heterosexism vs. larry craig
i’m pleased to see that finally there’s been some press defending larry craig.
not apologizing for his bigoted voting record, or his repeated “i’m not gay” declarations. but instead calling into question the heterosexism that scandalizes a man seeking homsexual sex, while allowing another senator who appeared on the DC madam’s call list to apologize and keep not only his senate seat, but also his committees.
here’s a roundup of some of the commentary battling back against the sex-phobic and homophobic rhetoric doled out from the left and right in the past week:
From the NYTimes, “Idaho’s Original Same-Sex Scandal” where filmmaker Seth Randal and historian Alan Virta fit Larry Craig into the long history of Idaho same-sex shame. I caught Randal’s new film “The Fall of ‘55” at a recent screening, and while I found it somewhat unwatchable for technical and aesthetic reasons, it told the All-American story of how gay panic ruined peoples lives and put men behind bars. Check it out, Frameline just released it on DVD.
Salon’s Sandip Roy wrote his own “In Defense of Larry Craig,” contrasting Craig’s solicitation to Senator’s David Vitter’s apparent admission for paying for sex.
From Roy’s article:
“But if there is a case of a radical discrepancy in how homosexual sex and heterosexual sex are treated by the media, it is Larry Craig vs. David Vitter. And while it’s always gratifying when a hypocrite gets his comeuppance, it’s tragic that those activists rubbing their hands in schadenfreude didn’t stop to note that gross inequality.
This is not about the right to have sex in a public place. Craig is being sacrificed for the mere act of perhaps wanting to have sex. Nothing more. And that will come to haunt us all long after we have forgotten the unfortunate senator from Idaho.”
Meanwhile, I heard on Tuesday’s Democracy Now that Newsweek has reported that 41 men have been arrested in the same bathroom since May. I can’t find the original citation, but thank you National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for asking the obvious question: “And by the way, why are Minneapolis tax dollars being used to have plainclothes police officers lurking idly in airport restroom stalls?”
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