GLBT DIGEST August 30, 2007

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


=

NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Kenya-Anglicans.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

August 30, 2007
2 U.S. Bishops Consecrated in Kenya
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:13 a.m. ET

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Two American priests were consecrated Thursday asAnglican bishops in Kenya, the latest in a string of conservative priestswho are defecting to African churches in a dispute over gay clergy.

Bill Atwood of Texas and William Murdoch of Massachusetts left the EpiscopalChurch -- the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion -- because itallows the ordination of gay priests.

''The gospel ... must take precedence over culture,'' said Archbishop DrexelGomez of the West Indies, one of 10 Anglican leaders or representatives whoattended the ceremony in Nairobi's All Saints Cathedral. ''Homosexualpractice violates the order of life given by God in Holy Scripture.''

The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury RowanWilliams, has asked African archbishops not to consecrate U.S. priests tohelp avoid a schism. Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said there had beenno direct communication with Williams over the Thursday's ceremony.

Williams has no direct authority to force a compromise because each Anglicanprovince is self-governing.



=

NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Republican-Woes.html?pagewanted=print

August 30, 2007
GOP Reeling From Money and Sex Scandals
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:41 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When it comes to scandal, Democrats could be forgiven forthinking they hit the political jackpot this summer. At Republican expense.

First came the disclosure that Louisiana Sen. David Vitter's telephonenumber was listed in the records of an escort service.

Then Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Alaska was raided by federal agents as partof a corruption investigation.

Now Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho is recanting a guilty plea that grew out of apolice undercover operation in an airport men's room, adding, ''I am notgay'' for emphasis.

''This is a serious matter,'' said the Senate Republican leadership, anunderstatement for the ages.



=

WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902123.html

A Senator's Judgment
Thursday, August 30, 2007; A20
Regarding the Aug. 28 front-page article "GOP Senator Pleaded Guilty AfterRestroom Arrest":

I was appalled to read of Sen. Larry E. Craig's repudiation of his guiltyplea and his specious reasoning for it. It seems that Mr. Craig believesthat people are more likely to forgive a senator who admits to being unableto handle pressure and make reasoned decisions than to forgive a senator whoadmits to being gay. The irony is that it is Mr. Craig and others of his ilkwho created this unfortunate environment of misplaced priorities.

It is fitting that he should find himself in this situation.

BHAVESH SHAH



=

WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902435_pf.html

Tapping Into The Secrets Of the Stall
Experts Say Anonymous Sex In Public Places Is A Compulsive Behavior

By Lynne Duke and DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, August 30, 2007; C01

Consider the bathroom stall, that utilitarian public enclosure of cold steeland drab hue.

It can be a world of untold secrets, codes and signals as invitations topartake. Like foot-tapping: Who knew?

Let us peer in, shall we? Let us peer into the stall as intently as Sen.Larry Craig (R-Idaho) allegedly did in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport in June, when his searching blue eyes werevisible to an undercover cop, who would later title his police report onCraig's arrest "Lewd Conduct" and write that police had made "numerousarrests regarding sexual activity in the public restroom."

Foot-tapping, the odd Morse code of anonymous bathroom sex, is "a signalused by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct," wrote airport policeSgt. Dave Karsnia. But there are many more ways to communicate desire inthis sexual subculture, say legal and behavioral experts as well as lawenforcement officials. Consider eye contact and the three-second rule. Thelingering at the urinal. And any bathroom will do, be it in an airport, adepartment store, a mall or a highway rest stop.

While the Craig case has created another political scandal, with twoRepublican senators yesterday calling for his resignation, it has alsopulled back the curtain on a sexual practice that takes place furtively, inthe most public of places, and on the police stings designed to rout it.



=

WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902222_pf.html

For Idaho Paper And Reporter, Craig Story Posed a Moral Dilemma

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 30, 2007; C01

Dan Popkey, the Idaho Statesman reporter who spent eight months digging intoallegations that Larry Craig had engaged in gay sexual encounters, recalls arecent stroll around the Republican senator's childhood ranch with a couplewho have known him for decades.

As they showed him the ranch, 24 miles from the nearest paved roads, andCraig's old one-room schoolhouse, says Popkey, "they were weeping at theprospect that he might not be telling the truth."

The 48-year-old columnist, whose paper was accused by Craig of "viciously"mounting a "witch hunt" against him, hardly seems the type to try to ruinsomeone's career. The Boise resident has written of the joy of stopping withhis two children while sheep cross a highway, of the glories of Idaho's fishand wildlife and small-town rodeos.

"This is a horrible thing," says Popkey, who has written about Craig since 1984. "It's a tragedy for Idaho, and I feel for him."

The kind of dilemma facing the Statesman has played out repeatedly in recentyears as news organizations have grappled with secondhand accounts aboutpolitical figures and questionable sexual conduct. Among the issues: What isan adequate level of proof? Are affairs or the hiring of prostitutes, evenif documented, fit to print? Or do they require an element of publichypocrisy, such as gay sex involving a lawmaker who holds forth on thesanctity of marriage?



=

NationalGayNews.com

http://www.chicagopride.com/news/pdf.cfm/articleID/4794561

Southern Decadence in New Orleans this Weekend

It may have begun as whimsical going away party put together by a cleverragtag bunch of friends over three decades ago, but Southern Decadence istoday New Orleans' largest gay celebration.

Annually held over Labor Day weekend, the debauched four day extravaganzathat is Southern Decadence is chock full of scores of porn stars, divas,scantily clad boys and round the clock entertainment.

Read More...



=

NationalGayNews.com

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/6251355.html

13:13, August 30, 2007
China publishes Genghis Khan's code of laws, saying it banned homosexuality

Chinese researchers have republished Genghis Khan's code of laws, probablythe world's earliest that banned homosexuality.

"Genghis Khan's Code", published by the Beijing-based Commercial Press,contains Chinese and English versions of the code as well as interpretationsof the laws based on research findings.

In article 48 of what is believed to be the world's first constitution,Genghis Khan banned homosexuality, saying "men committed sodomy shall be putto death", according to experts with Inner Mongolia's research institute ofancient Mongolian laws and sociology who spent 14 months to compile thecode.

Experts say this was because Genghis Khan wanted to expand the Mongolianpopulation, which was around 1.5 million, compared with 100 million rivalsof the Song Dynasty (960-1279) that dominated today's central China.

Genghis Khan's code of laws also highlighted environment protection, theresearchers have found.



=

NationalGayNews.com

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/Gay-wedding-shop-tops-poll.3159142.jp

Published Date: 30 August 2007
Gay wedding shop tops poll
Winner...Aisle Alter Hymn
By Kaye Henry

A GAY wedding boutique in South Tyneside has topped a poll for Britain'swackiest shop name.

Aisle Alter Hymn in South Shields is believed to be the first wedding shopin Britain to cater for gay and lesbian couples.

And now the store has been crowned the craziest shop name in the UK, in acompetition launched by insurance firm More Than.

Lynn Lucas, who runs the shop in Dean Road, Westoe, said: "I am absolutelythrilled. The name is unique, like the shop.

"You go down the aisle and sing some hymns - that's what happens atweddings."



=

Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48517.asp

August 30, 2007
Hungary radio station fires two for depicting gay official with Nazi pinktriangle

A Hungarian radio station on Wednesday fired two staff members after a gaygovernment official was depicted on its Web site standing outside NaziGermany's Auschwitz concentration camp while wearing a pink triangle symbol,used by the Nazis to label homosexual men.

The photo montage showing State Secretary Gabor Szetey with a pink triangleon his suit in front of Auschwitz's main gate appeared Wednesday morning onthe Web site of Lanchid Radio. It was later removed.

Szetey recently announced he was gay, the first government member to comeout in Hungary.

''I have one message for those who did this and those who agree with it-Icannot be intimidated,'' Szetey said Wednesday after a government cabinetmeeting.

Lanchid Radio said it had fired two of its editors for the ''impermissibleand offensive'' picture.



=

Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48554.asp

August 30, 2007
Tucker Carlson admits to assaulting man in restroom

News commentator Tucker Carlson admitted on an episode of MSNBC Live thataired August 28 to having assaulted a man who he said "bothered" him in aWashington, D.C., restroom when he was in high school. His statement cameamid discussion of the recent scandal involving Idaho senator Larry Craig'sarrest for lewd conduct in an airport men's room.

When host Dan Abrams asked how Carlson responded to the incident, Carlsonsaid, "I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- youknow, and grabbed him, and...hit him against the stall with his head,actually.... And then the cops came and arrested him."

He went on to say that men cruising for sex in bathrooms is a prevalentproblem and that he avoids taking his son to public restrooms because of"all [those] creepy guys hanging around in there."

Wednesday morning, after the blogosphere filled with criticism for Carlson'shaving resorted to violence in such a situation, he e-mailed the TVNewserblog to elaborate.

"Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing," he saidin the e-mail. "That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought backagainst an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because hewas gay. I was angry because he assaulted me."



=

Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48525.asp

August 30, 2007
Conservative congressman calls on Craig to resign

A conservative Republican House member from Michigan became the firstlawmaker to call for Sen. Larry Craig's resignation on Wednesday, and theWhite House expressed disappointment in the case of the Idaho senator caughtin a men's room undercover police operation.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra said Craig ''represents the Republican party'' and calledfor his resignation, ''as his conduct throughout this matter has beeninappropriate for a U.S. senator.''

Craig pleaded guilty in August to a charge of disorderly conduct followinghis arrest in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport. He has since recantedhis guilty plea, and he said on Tuesday he did nothing wrong.

Senate Republican leaders have called on the ethics committee to reviewCraig's case, and White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said he hoped thepanel could do its work quickly.

''That would be in the best interests of the Senate and the people ofIdaho,'' he said.



=

Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48532.asp

August 30, 2007
HIV-positive toddler joins protest for being banned from RV park

A 2-year-old boy will join more than 100 AIDS activists convening to theAlabama RV park where he was turned away from using the shared pool andshowers because he is HIV-positive.

Caleb Glover and his adoptive parents Silvia and Dick were vacationing atthe Wales West RV Park in July when site owner Ken Zadnichek turned thefamily away. Since then, Zadnichek has apologized and welcomed the activiststo a "Family Reunion" organized by the Campaign to End AIDS this Labor Day.

Larry Bryant, the leader of the organization, said in a statement that he islooking forward to shining a spotlight on the intolerance the diseasebrings. "What happened at Wales West proves that we still have to fightstigma and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. (The Advocate)



=

Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48510.asp

August 30, 2007
Gays, pedophiles lumped together in Scouts' "degenerates" file

The Washington State supreme court has forced the Boy Scouts of America toturn over "ineligible volunteer" files that reveal a sexual abuse problemamong Scout leaders that is far greater than the organization previouslyadmitted.

Although justices ruled that the files themselves would not be made public,attorneys said the Boy Scouts "have ejected at least 5,100 adult leadersnationwide for sexual abuse allegations since 1946," according to theSeattle Times.

In the past 15 years, the organization has kicked out leaders for abuseallegations at a rate of one every other day.

The ruling stemmed from a 2003 suit filed by two former scouts, brothers Tomand Matt Stewart, now men in their 40s, who say they were sexually molestedby a scoutmaster over many years.

The records they obtained show that, as part of the "ineligible volunteer"files, the organization retained information on 1,000 "degenerates." TheStewarts' attorneys counted 732 "degenerate" files from 1946 to 1971 amongthe 45 boxes of files ordered disclosed by the BSA.



=

ExpressGayNews.com

http://expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3988

Russians can't get enough pictures of their bare-chested leader
Aug. 30, 2007

MOSCOW (AP) - When he flexes Russia's diplomatic and military muscle,President Vladimir Putin always makes headlines. But few could havepredicted the squall of gossip and speculation that would follow after Putinstripped off his shirt for the cameras while on holiday with Prince AlbertII of Monaco in the Siberian mountains last week. Russian gay chat rooms andblogs were particularly intrigued by the photos: Some claimed that Putin, bystripping to his waist, was somehow pleading for more tolerance ofhomosexuality in Russia - where gays and lesbians are for the most partforced to remain closeted. One satirical photo circulating on the Internetjokingly compared Putin's mountain adventure with Prince Albert to the movie"Brokeback Mountain," a love story about gay cowboys. The 54-year-oldRussian leader, who is married with two daughters, has long cultivated animage of machismo and manliness.

Well-known as a downhill skier and black belt in judo, Putin has appeared onnational television driving a truck, operating a train, sailing on asubmarine and copiloting a fighter jet. These exploits have been widelypublicized, thanks to the Kremlin's control of major media.



=

365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/08/082907nola.htm

New Orleans Observes 2nd Anniversary Of Katrina As Gays Work To Help Restore
City

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: August 29, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET

(New Orleans, Louisiana) Two days before New Orleans gays begin to celebrateSouthern Decadence the city paused Wednesday to mark the second anniversaryof hurricane Katrina.

A bell tolled to mark the hour that the levees failed at the height of thestorm in which killed 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi on August29, 2005.

The heavily gay Garden District and French Quarter escaped much of wrath ofKatrina, and today there is little evidence of damage. But elsewhere in NewOrleans the city still looks like a war zone.

Almost all of the city's gay community evacuated the city in advance ofKatrina and most have returned.

Many of those who fled the city went to Houston, Texas. And that city'sLGBT community was ready for them. (story)



=

365gay.com

http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/082907scandal.htm

Scandals Not Unique To Republicans
by The Associated Press
Posted: August 29, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Washington) Few politicians involved in sex scandals have taken a page fromthe Barney Frank damage control playbook or fared so well.

Some other Washington sex scandals from the past:

- In July, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., acknowledged "a very serious sin in mypast" after his Washington telephone number was linked to an escort servicethat prosecutors say was a prostitution ring. He went into seclusion for aweek, apologized and has returned to the Senate.

Vitter was elected to fill the vacancy left by fellow Republican BobLivingston, who quit in 1999 after acknowledging marital infidelity.

- Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned in September 2006 after hiscommunications with former congressional pages were exposed, setting offmonths of recrimination during the election campaign over the stewardship ofyoung people working on Capitol Hill. A criminal investigation continues inFlorida over whether Foley tried to seduce underage boys.



=

365gay.com

http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/082907frank.htm

Barney Frank: Craig Shouldn't Resign
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: August 29, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Boston, Massachusetts) Barney Frank (D-Mass) one of only two openly gaymembers of Congress says that Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig shouldresist calls for his resignation.

"What he did, it's hypocritical, but it's not an abuse of his office in thesense that he was taking money for corrupt votes," Frank told the AssociatedPress.

"I think people should resign when they have clearly done the job in a waythat is dishonest."

Frank went on to tell the AP: "It's one thing to say that someone can't betrusted to vote without being corrupt, it's another to say that he can't betrusted to go to the bathroom by himself."

Pressure has been mounting, particularly within the GOP, for Craig to stepdown, after he admitted this week to pleading guilty earlier this month to acharge of disorderly conduct following his June 11 arrest in a men's room atthe Minneapolis airport.



=

365gay.com

http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/083007airport.htm

Similarities Between Other Busts, Sting That Snared Senator
by The Associated Press
Posted: August 30, 2007 - 6:00 am ET

(Minneapolis, Minnesota) A foot-tapping ritual was a common thread in manyof the 41 arrests reported during a four-month airport bathroom sting thatsnared Sen. Larry Craig.

An undercover officer would take a seat in a stall. Soon another man wouldsit in the stall next door and start tapping his foot, perhaps moving itcloser to the officer's. The officer would move his foot up and down slowly.The suspect might then extend his hand under the divider between the stalls,sometimes repeatedly.

That would be enough to get the man busted.

Airport police reports obtained by The Associated Press gave strikinglysimilar accounts of the events that led to the 41 arrests officers made foralleged lewd conduct in public restrooms in the main terminal of theMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during the May-August sting.

Craig insisted that his actions were misconstrued, according to the policereport on his June 11 arrest. But the Idaho Republican quietly pleadedguilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct earlier this month.After word of his arrest finally surfaced this week, Craig insisted he haddone nothing wrong, that he regretted pleading guilty and indicated he mighttry to withdraw his plea. He also insisted he is not gay.



=

365gay.com

http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/083007saf.htm

AIDS Activists Rally In South Africa
by The Associated Press
Posted: August 30 2007 - 9:00 am ET

(Cape Town, South Africa) Hundreds of AIDS activists packed the city'scathedral Wednesday to show support for the dismissed deputy health ministerthey believe was targeted for speaking out about the AIDS crisis and otherproblems in the nation's health service.

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, widely credited with revitalizing South Africa'sbeleaguered anti-AIDS campaign, was fired earlier this month, accused oftaking a business trip to Spain without President Thabo Mbeki's approval andfailing to work as part of a team.

Her dismissal has revived concern about the government's commitment tofighting the AIDS epidemic, which kills an estimated 900 South Africans eachday.

Madlala-Routledge's firing "is a shame for South Africa. It's a shame forour beloved country," said Mpumi Mantangana, a nurse who oversees thetreatment of about 2,000 AIDS patients in a poor Cape Town suburb.

"We will never allow ourselves to be silenced by people who are denialists,"she said, using a term for people who question the link between HIV and AIDSand play down the extent of the crisis.



=

365gay.com

http://365gay.com/Newscon07/08/083007bishops.htm

Anglican Gay Feud Worsens As 2 US Bishops Consecrated In Kenya
by The Associated Press
Posted: August 30 2007 - 9:00 am ET

(Nairobi) Two American priests were consecrated Thursday as Anglican bishopsin Kenya, the latest in a string of conservative priests who are defectingto African churches in a dispute over gay clergy.

Bill Atwood of Texas and William Murdoch of Massachusetts left the EpiscopalChurch - the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion - because itallows the ordination of gay priests.

"The gospel ... must take precedence over culture," said Archbishop DrexelGomez of the West Indies, one of 10 Anglican leaders or representatives whoattended the ceremony in Nairobi's All Saints Cathedral. "Homosexualpractice violates the order of life given by God in Holy Scripture."

The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury RowanWilliams, has asked African archbishops not to consecrate U.S. priests tohelp avoid a schism. Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi said there had beenno direct communication with Williams over the Thursday's ceremony.

Williams has no direct authority to force a compromise because each Anglicanprovince is self-governing.



=

GLAAD CALLS ON TUCKER CARLSON, MSNBC TO APOLOGIZE
FOR INSENSITIVE REMARKS CONDONING VIOLENCE

New York, Wednesday, August 29 - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance AgainstDefamation (GLAAD) today called on Tucker Carlson, NBC News and MSNBC toapologize for remarks made on Tuesday night that appear to condone violentassault.

On the Tuesday, Aug. 28 edition of "MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams" MSNBC hostTucker Carlson referenced an incident from his past when he was therecipient of an unwanted advance from another man. Carlson told programhost (and MSNBC General Manager) Dan Abrams and fellow MSNBC host JoeScarborough that after being "bothered" by a man in a restroom in aWashington, D.C., mall, Carlson returned "with someone [he] knew and grabbedthe guy. and hit him against the stall with his head, actually. And thenthe cops came and arrested him." Abrams and Scarborough are seen chucklingthroughout Carlson's telling of the story.

Earlier today, GLAAD called Abrams' office to discuss NBC News and MSNBC'sresponse to Carlson's behavior. Abrams' office responded with an e-mailedstatement attributed to Carlson, which read:

Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: Inthe mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbedme in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ranout of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returnedto the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do tosomeone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and heldhim until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That'sabsurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicitedsexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angrybecause he assaulted me.

The statement is not only a failed attempt to justify Carlson's advocacy ofviolence, but also changes key details of the previous night's on-air story.First, Carlson does not repeat his assertion that he "hit him against thestall with his head," instead changing his story to say that he "seized theman and held him down until a security guard arrived." The security guardelement is also newly invented. In his on-air statement, Carlson said that"the cops came and arrested him."

"Carlson's story was difficult to watch on two levels," said GLAAD SeniorDirector of Media Programs Rashad Robinson. "To see someone brag on nationaltelevision of returning, with an accomplice, to the scene of an unwantedadvance to violently attack the person who made it is incredibly disturbing.But it was also hard to watch because of the sheer absurdity of most of whatCarlson was saying."

"Whether Abrams and Scarborough were laughing with Carlson or laughing athim, the fact remains that MSNBC and NBC News have some explaining to doabout their standards and practices," Robinson said. "They need to explainwhether bragging about physically assaulting a man in response to anunwanted advance is appropriate on-air behavior for one of their employees,and whether laughter by two others is an appropriate on-air response."

PLEASE CONTACT NBC NEWS AND MSNBC TODAY. Ask Tucker Carlson to apologizeand ask NBC News and MSNBC if Carlson's on-air comments are reflective oftheir network's standards and practices.

Allison Gollust
Senior Vice President of Communications, NBC News
allison.gollust@nbcuni.com
212.664.3220

Jeremy Gaines
Vice President of Communications, MSNBC
jeremy.gaines@msnbc.com
201.583.5000

Leslie Schwartz
Director of Media Relations, MSNBC
leslie.schwartz@msnbc.com
201.583.5000

Tucker Carlson
Host, "Tucker"
tucker@msnbc.com
201.583.5000

About GLAAD
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated topromoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of peopleand events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia anddiscrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For moreinformation, visit www.glaad.org.



=

WayneBesen.com

http://www.waynebesen.com/

by Wayne Besen
Anything But Straight

ALL FOR THE GLORY HOLE

Somehow, the idea of furtive bathroom sex seemed more in vogue when pop iconGeorge Michael was arrested. Now, the guy in the stall next to you is likelya gay obsessed mayor, an undercover cop or a crusty old conservativelegislator. With such unappetizing menu choices, one has to be quitedesperate and pathetic to try to find his man in the can - especially withthe advent of the Internet, which can deliver a pick-up faster than a pizza.

So, the few remaining men who seek to cruise the commode are mostly marriedconservative hypocrites looking for love on the sly. Exhibit A is LarryCraig, a married Republican Senator from Idaho who pleaded guilty tosoliciting a police officer for sex at the Minneapolis airport in June.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force pointed out that Craig supportedboth the Federal Marriage Amendment and Idaho's anti-same-sex marriageconstitutional amendment. He is not supportive of nondiscrimination and hatecrimes legislation that would extend protections to gay people and has evenrefused to pledge that his own office would not discriminate against LGBTpeople. (Was he afraid of temptation?)

The Senator's tortured attempts to explain away the obvious were as comicalas they were tragic.

"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they weremisconstruing my actions," Craig said. "I should have had the advice ofcounsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pledguilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly andexpeditiously."



=

Ohio

http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/2327981

Abortion law would give fathers a say State legislators propose change;
opponents blast bill as 'extreme'
Comments Mike Hixenbaugh
July 30, 2007
By Mike Hixenbaugh

Record-Courier staff writer

Several Ohio state representatives who normally take an anti-abortion stanceare now pushing pro-choice legislation - sort of.

Led by Rep. John Adams, a group of state legislators have submitted a billthat would give fathers of unborn children a final say in whether or not anabortion can take place.

It's a measure that, supporters say, would finally give fathers a choice.

"This is important because there are always two parents and fathers shouldhave a say in the birth or the destruction of that child," said Adams, aRepublican from Sidney. "I didn't bring it up to draw attention to myself orto be controversial. In most cases, when a child is born the father hasfinancial responsibility for that child, so he should have a say."

As written, the bill would ban women from seeking an abortion withoutwritten consent from the father of the fetus. In cases where the identity ofthe father is unknown, women would be required to submit a list of possiblefathers. The physician would be forced to conduct a paternity test from theprovided list and then seek paternal permission to abort.

Claiming to not know the father's identity is not a viable excuse, accordingto the proposed legislation. Simply put: no father means no abortion.

"I'm really pleased that this has been proposed for one reason - it drawsattention to the fact that many men are concerned and care for their unbornchildren," said Denise Mackura, the director of the Ohio Right to LifeSociety. "You have no idea how many men call telling me about theirgirlfriends who plan to abort, asking what they can do to help her. They dowant to help and they should have a voice."



=

California

http://www.prochoicecalifornia.org/action/alerts/200708061.shtml

Don't Sign 1249!
Stop the next anti-choice ballot initiative in California

Can you believe this? The same anti-choice zealots who funded Props. 73 and85 are at it again, backing a different initiative with the same effect:putting our teens in real danger. Petitions for this dangerous ballotinitiative are circulating statewide. Tell your friends and family: DON'TSIGN 1249!

The so-called Sexual Abuse Reporting Act (SARA) initiative would mandate anyteacher, counselor or doctor who a teen confides in about a pregnancy,miscarriage, sexually transmitted infection or abortion to report the teento Child Protective Services and the police. This initiative would punishteens who seek help-effectively blocking their access to reproductivehealthcare.

California already has strong laws that mandate the reporting of abuse. Weneed to ensure that teens can access confidential health services withoutfear or intimidation.



=

Sun-Sentinel

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/08/bathroom_politics.html#comments

August 29, 2007
Bathroom politics
Posted by Michael Mayo at 10:20 AM

Maybe Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle has been onto something all along.The longer the summer goes on, the more we see that men soliciting men forsex in public bathrooms might be a bigger problem than anybody realized.

Except it appears the epidemic might be more rampant among marriedconservative politicians than openly gay people.

The latest case involves U.S. Senator Larry Craig, a Republican of Idaho,who pleaded guilty this month to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conductstemming from a June incident with an undercover police officer in a men'sbathroom at the Minneapolis airport.

"I am not gay," Craig said Tuesday in a news conference, wife at his side.

That's what I've been trying to tell Naugle all along, that this isn't a gayissue at all.

Gay people don't need to resort to clandestine cruising for public sexanymore.

It's the closeted "straights" that do.

Naugle's response has been that any man who wants sex with another man isgay, so therefore the problem is with gays.

No, perhaps the problem is with repressed, scared people who can't be honestwith themselves when it comes to sexuality.

Last month, Florida state representative Bob Allen, a Republican fromMerritt Island, was arrested for allegedly offering $20 to perform a sex acton an undercover male police officer outside a men's room in a Titusvillepark.

Allen, also married, has pleaded not guilty to solicitation of prostitution.

In his legislative career, Allen has sponsored tougher laws on lewd andlascivious behavior and for sexual predators.

Anybody see a trend here?



=

Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3534199&page=1

Secret Signals: How Gay Men Cruise for Sex

When Men Cruise for Sex in Public Places, Police Take Notice, Some Gays Say
It's Unfair

While many Americans may only be vaguely familiar with the idea of"cruising," there is a secret world of sex between men that exists in publicplaces across the country.

The police officer who arrested Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, in a men'srestroom at the Minneapolis airport for allegedly looking to engage in gaysex wrote in his June report that he "recognized a signal used by personswishing to engage in lewd conduct."

Craig tapped his foot up and down and swiped his hand underneath thebathroom stall in which the undercover cop was sitting, according to thepolice report.

Those actions led to Craig's arrest by Detective Dave Karsnia and thesenator's guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge. Craig told reporterstoday that he did nothing inappropriate and said his guilty plea was amistake.

Public places like men's restrooms, in airports and train stations, truckstops, university libraries and parks, have long been places where gay andbisexual men, particularly those in the closet, congregate in order to meetfor anonymous sex.

more...



=

Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-craig-other-arrests,0,4292382,print.story

Foot-Tapping Ritual Common in Sex Sting
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press Writer
10:31 PM EDT, August 29, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS

A foot-tapping ritual was a common thread in many of the 41 arrests reportedduring a four-month airport bathroom sting that snared Sen. Larry Craig.

An undercover officer would take a seat in a stall. Soon another man wouldsit in the stall next door and start tapping his foot, perhaps moving itcloser to the officer's. The officer would move his foot up and down slowly.The suspect might then extend his hand under the divider between the stalls,sometimes repeatedly.

That would be enough to get the man busted.

Airport police reports obtained by The Associated Press gave strikinglysimilar accounts of the events that led to the 41 arrests officers made foralleged lewd conduct in public restrooms in the main terminal of theMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during the May-August sting.

Craig insisted that his actions were misconstrued, according to the policereport on his June 11 arrest. But the Idaho Republican quietly pleadedguilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct earlier this month.After word of his arrest finally surfaced this week, Craig insisted he haddone nothing wrong, that he regretted pleading guilty and indicated he mighttry to withdraw his plea. He also insisted he is not gay.



=

The New York Times

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/opinion/30collins.html

August 30, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Men's Room Chronicles
By GAIL COLLINS

It is time for Republicans to start asking themselves whether there'ssomething about ceremonial leadership positions that causes their colleaguesto collapse under stress.

Larry Craig was co-chair of the U.S. Senate Mitt Romney for Presidentcampaign until the recent unpleasantness caused him to resign. Senator DavidVitter, the Southern regional chair of Rudy Giuliani's presidentialcampaign, got caught with his name on the D.C. Madam's rolodex. The staterepresentative who was titular head of John McCain for President in Floridawas charged with soliciting sex in the men's room of a public park. And thenthere was the South Carolina state treasurer who was chairman of his state'sGiuliani chapter until he got indicted on a drug charge.

Does lending one's name to a Republican presidential campaign create anirresistible impulse to misbehave? Or is this the sort of job people onlyundertake when they feel a secret need to do penance?

When it comes to conservative Republicans' explanations for how they came tobe arrested in a public men's room ....

(How often, really, do you start a sentence like that?)

... Craig's claim that nothing happened, but that the Idaho Statesman madehim so nervous he accidentally pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, was notexactly convincing. Still, it was an improvement over Bob Allen, thearrested Florida state representative and McCain backer. Allen claimed heoffered to perform a sex act on an undercover officer because, as the onlywhite man in the restroom, he felt he was in danger of being robbed.

The nation's first famous-political-name-caught-in-a-men's-room incidentoccurred in 1964 when Lyndon Johnson's confidential assistant, WalterJenkins, was arrested in the bathroom of the Washington Y.M.C.A. A shockedpress corps theorized that Jenkins, a family man, must have been driven touncharacteristic behavior by his slave-driving boss. "A psychiatricbreakdown under the strain," concluded Theodore White. Jenkins, who hadactually been arrested once before at the same spot, told the F.B.I. that hehad only been involved in those two incidents - but that if there had beenany others "he would have been under the influence of alcohol and in a stateof fatigue and would not remember them."

Now, of course, we understand that people's sexual impulses do not switchgears because they have been under a lot of pressure at work. The onlypossible reaction to watching Craig say "I am not gay" over and over had tobe pity for the man and his unhappy family. The Republicans, however, arenot in the mood to have a thoughtful discussion about how much thedemonization of homosexuality tortures God-fearing conservatives who findtheir sexual impulses at war with the party line. Or to sponsor aninteresting debate on whether a man who pleads guilty to waving his handunder a toilet stall is worse than a man who, say, once pleaded guilty todrunken driving. John McCain has called for Craig's resignation. The party'sSenate leadership, having finally found a use for the Ethics Committee, hasordered up an investigation. (Thank heavens we didn't distract them with TedStevens's finances.)

Mitt Romney absolutely raced to condemn his former campaign committeeluminary. Really, it was a good thing that when word about Craig first cameout there weren't any small children or elderly people between him and thenearest microphone. Romney not only wanted to distance himself from anythinginvolving the term "he said-he said," he was also fighting the whole schoolof thought that discounts the importance of a candidate's private behavior.As the only leading Republican candidate for president who is still on hisfirst wife, Romney wants private behavior way, way up there at the top ofthe list.


=


[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####