I Hate Writing About Things That Happen In the Men's Room

I couldn't think of anything else to title this post, so I just went with the thought running through my head. Since you are reading this blog, I suspect you've heard of the problem Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig ran into at a Minnesota airport. He was arrested during a police sting for lewd conduct in the men's room.


I'm posting because I ran across two interesting accounts of this story, one from each side.


First, from Pink News UK where, somewhat surprisingly, Rep Barney Frank disagrees with senators like John McCain who are calling for Craig's regisnation:


"What he did, it’s hypocritical, but it’s not an abuse of his office in the sense that he was taking money for corrupt votes. I think people should resign when they have clearly done the job in a way that is dishonest.


"Mr Frank added: "It’s one thing to say that someone can’t be trusted to vote without being corrupt, it’s another to say that he can’t be trusted to go to the bathroom by himself."


Personally, I'm not sure I'd be happy with a senator that had an issue with either. Also in the Pink News article is some detail (not graphic) about the incident.


Courts heard that plain clothes officer, who sat in an adjacent cubicle in a public toilet at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, observed that Craig repeatedly tapped his foot - supposedly a well-known signal for initiating gay sex - before brushing his foot against the officer's and eventually resorting to waving his hand underneath the cubicle partition.


This would strongly contradict Craig's adamant, and I do mean adamant, denial that he is gay. I think he doth protest too much.


Now swinging to the right, the news mouthpiece for the American (Straight) Family Association.


Matt Barber is policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America. He says anonymous homosexual sex in public restrooms is a national problem, noting Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle who has angered homosexual activists with his efforts to crack down on such activity.

"Not all men who self-identify as homosexual, or who engage in homosexual behaviors, take part in these types of anonymous homosexual rendezvous -- but we know that statistics show that a lot of them do (emphasis mine)," says Barber. "And I think that people need to consider how they might feel if one of their children were to walk in at a park, or an airport, or elsewhere into a restroom and walk into this type of behavior. Something needs to be done about it."


People who engage is sweeping, unsubstantiated, indicting generalizations like Barber did here, and does on a regular basis, should lose their right to speak to anyone with a recorder, computer, or even a pencil that might write his latest utterance down. I doubt he truly believes that, but if he does, he has that right. He just doesn't need to inflict it on others, especially those who are gullable enough to buy into it.