Republican senator Larry Craig

[PeterGinsberg]

Voting record of GOP Senator Larry Craig:
Same Sex Marriage: NO
Sexual Orientation part of hate crime law: NO
Gay Sex in Airport Bathrooms: YES!

Tepid CNN story
More details

He's been outed in the past as well, but not by a cop, and he always denied it:
Here and here (video from 1982! Foley-style page sex).

“At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, ‘What do you think about that?’ the report states.”

What percentage of the republican party is made up of self-hating closeted gay men, do ya think?

[bdfinally]

According to the police report, Craig entered the airport restroom and lingered outside a stall occupied by a plainclothes police officer. Craig then entered an adjacent toilet stall, tapped his foot against the officer's foot and put his hand under the divider separating the two men.

The officer then showed Craig his police identification under the stall divider, and pointed Craig toward the restroom's exit. According to the report, Craig responded by saying, "No!"

During booking, Craig denied any wrongdoing, saying "that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom," according to the police report. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct on Aug. 8.


I almost pissed myself, reading the "stance" quote, i laughed so hard

[Qenan]

What percentage of the republican party is made up of self-hating closeted gay men, do ya think?

I think someone should turn this into a T-Shirt.

[drewl]

this happened like last month....why'd it take so long to surface?

[Grifman]

this happened like last month....why'd it take so long to surface?

Well, I doubt that Craig's office issued a news release on the matter . . .

[Andrew Mayer]

this happened like last month....why'd it take so long to surface?

Good question. People are still trying to figure out how Roll Call got the story.

I've been so tempted to post a topic titled something like "Republicans: Yes I Cock-a-doodle-do!", and that was before this story.

[Matthew Gallant]

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Being-a-...e-a-Legislator

[Linoleum]

The very definition of irony.

[Raife]

Now he's saying that the guilty plea was a mistake, and he did it to get it all over with.

[Matthew Gallant]

Well at least Idaho will still have Senator Crapo!

[BlueJackalope]

Craig's orientation has been a not very hidden secret for years now. His "wide stance" much less so. (I think this deserves to go in the Eddie Murphy "humanitarian impulse" excuse file). Someone should do a study of these repressed types, why do they try to find the skeeviest outlets for their "forbidden love"?

When I heard this story I flashed back to a day many years ago when I was in a mall and I "had" to go. I'm kinda squeamish about these things and would always prefer to go home to do business, but there was no putting off this call of nature. I got reluctantly settled in my stall and was doing my business when the guy next to me slid his foot over and tapped mine. "What the Hell?" I'm thinking, "stay in your own stall." I pulled my foot back but in a little while he did it again. Now I start to get the picture, but I'm also having God's Own Bowel Movement, he had to of heard it, it was like wet cannon fire. I had no choice but kick his foot hard and try to finish up, which uncomfortably, I do. Now I know who to blame, fucking Larry Craig.

[drewl]

From the ironic article:

BONUS BYTES



Ø One of the tragic characteristics of the homosexual lifestyle is its emphasis on anonymous sex and multiple sexual partners. It is a little-acknowledged secret that many active homosexuals will have more than 1,000 sex partners over the course of a lifetime (the average among heterosexuals is seven)----


Tragic Characteristic?
Lucky mofo's I call it.....

[Matthew Gallant]

Now I know who to blame, fucking Larry Craig.

Yes, but you were only in there because of Senator Crapo, so all of Idaho shares the blame.

[BennyProfane]

They are hinting he's going to resign this afternoon...

[BlueJackalope]

They are hinting he's going to resign this afternoon...

This would be more fun if there was a chance Idaho would vote in a democrat. I assume he will be replaced with someone more conservative and possibly worse.

[Dirt]

This would be more fun if there was a chance Idaho would vote in a democrat. I assume he will be replaced with someone more conservative and possibly worse.

Wouldn't the Governor pick his replacement?

Well, at least he knows what the cop thought about his business card.

[Mark Asher]

Pretty hilarious story, and I'm glad the press didn't let him get away with it. That blow-by-blow account of how he acted sealed the deal.

[BlueJackalope]

Everyone enjoys a good petard hoisting, and few are as satisfying as the classic "Homophobe GOP Pol caught soliciting gay sex in the john" hoisting.

But...

http://www.slate.com/id/2172966/

He is guilty—but of a fake crime. The fact of the guilty plea does not somehow end discussion. He pleaded guilty because he was scared and embarrassed about the public revelation. The problem—my libertarian friend—is that the government has put on its books a law that serves very little public purpose, and has given the police free rein to enforce it with heavy hands (and tapping feet). You should be objecting to the excessive power of the state being harnessed to create and enforce laws that serve so little purpose.

vs

Jack Shafer:

I'm all for sex. Straight. Gay. Solo outings. Orgies. But I can understand why there are laws against "lewd conduct" in public places such as bathrooms and why they're enforced. I'm not going to stick up for Craig.

I'd much rather have the airport cops looking for, y'know terrorists and such. Seems like a little warning would have sufficed in this case, maybe post a sign if it's a problem - "Attention: No Sex in the Stalls. Serious."

[Rimbo]

There is something very disturbing about having a cop sit in a stall waiting for guys to tap his foot so he can haul them off to jail. A homophobe turning out to be a closeted queer is pretty mundane, even if it is a U.S. Senator, but having cops doing this kind of thing is ... yiccch.

Seriously, what's the crime here?

[Matthew Gallant]

Seriously, what's the crime here?

Sex in public?

[antlers]

If I was taking my 5 yo son to use the airport bathroom and noticed two guys were going at it in the stalls, I might well report it to the police. There is a legitimate societal interest in discouraging public lewd behavior.

[BlueJackalope]

If I was taking my 5 yo son to use the airport bathroom and noticed two guys were going at it in the stalls, I might well report it to the police. There is a legitimate societal interest in discouraging public lewd behavior.

That's the argument, but I've been using public stalls for like...years. And have only the one sad story (see above) to tell. I don't belive there is an epidemic of public bathroom sex. Airport (and other) cops should have some thing better to do.

Sides' that cop was being a tease -

Will Saletan: "Craig tapped his toes several times and moved his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly." Is moving your foot up and down a signal of encouragement? Somebody must have a web site that explains the code.

[SpoofyChop]

Isn't the site that explains all the signals goatsomething.cx? Either that or tubsomebody.com

[Andrew Mayer]

That's the argument, but I've been using public stalls for like...years. And have only the one sad story (see above) to tell. I don't belive there is an epidemic of public bathroom sex. Airport (and other) cops should have some thing better to do.

From what I've read that particular bathroom was a known location for cruising for anonymous gay sex.
Just FYI.

[Rimbo]

Sex in public?

RTFA. They didn't have sex.

[forgeforsaken]

I love that he continues to claim that he isn't gay, it's like he's straight out of a Kids in the Hall sketch. Scott Thompson should play him in a movie.

[Mordrak]

RTFA. They didn't have sex.

Is that the same as not inhaling? What's the likelihood he hasn't worked some plumbing in that bathroom before?

[Matthew Gallant]

RTFA. They didn't have sex.

I look forward to your future landmark cases winning freedom for all the people who try to commit or solicit a crime and are stopped. Since, you know, it's not actually illegal until you actually put the cock in your mouth or something.

[Unicorn McGriddle]

I'm not happy about the breadth of sex crime laws in America, but since he can't be arrested for being a Republican, this is the next best thing.

[PeterGinsberg]

Everyone enjoys a good petard hoisting, and few are as satisfying as the classic "Homophobe GOP Pol caught soliciting gay sex in the john" hoisting.

I'd much rather have the airport cops looking for, y'know terrorists and such. Seems like a little warning would have sufficed in this case, maybe post a sign if it's a problem - "Attention: No Sex in the Stalls. Serious."

In general, I agree with your point here.

It's worth mentioning though that this particular airport bathroom was apparently a major gay cruising spot:

The restroom where Craig was arrested is well known among men who seek sex in public places.

Squirt.org is a site that runs a bulletin board for such men. "If you enter from the terminal, turn left and go past wash basins, urinals to the back where the stalls are. This place is THE most cruisy public place I have been," wrote one poster. "Just passed thru here the other day. This place is so hot. This place has a constant flow and variety of hot guys," wrote another. Even another poster wrote, "This is the best spot for anonymous action I've ever seen." Of all the postings in Minnesota, the airport restroom was ranked the top by that website.

...

The details of Craig's arrest are not unique. According to a post in June at cruisingforsex.com, another public sex site, "Twenty people were arrested within the past week. Plainclothes officers wait in the stalls and tap their feet and even put their foot on yours and then arrest you when you look under the stall wall."

In this case, it may have been so out of hand that it was worth the police's time to do something about it.

In general though, it really does seem like a "crime" that would be more appropriate to ticket for if anything.