Morning Edition - 10/17/07

Is There Anything Worse Than Being Gay?
Last night Idaho Senator Larry Craig sat down with NBCs Matt Lauer and discussed his June solicitation arrest at a Minneapolis airport. It’s a story of a conservative senator who admittedly says he disagrees with the gay lifestyle, but now faces judgment as a man who was soliciting sex from another man in a public restroom. To complicate matters for the senator, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and never mentioned the incident to anyone – not his wife, not his state, not his lawyer – for close to two months. Just moments before the media broke the story, Craig told his family of what he alleges occurred that June day. The skinny is that Craig says that although he mimicked all the tell-tale signs of men who solicit sex in public restrooms, these were coincidence – some details he doesn’t recall at all. On Monday, he filed to withdraw his guilty plea and fight to prove his innocence. It would appear that as a man who feels unjustly judged, scrutinized and pigeonholed, that he would more clearly see the plight of the gay community he has shunned for so long. Whether true or not, he is experiencing the cold-shoulder and discrimination suffered by many gay men and women everyday. When Matt Lauer asked Craig what he felt about the gay life, he said he does not agree with the ‘lifestyle’ and his vote has always shown this. I nodded my head and had the eerie sense that sometimes life allows folks to plunge from their pedestals because their large heads tend to lean sharply over in judgment of others. Like Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” statement, Craig asserts that he is not gay or bisexual. Meanwhile, The Statesman, an Idaho newspaper has reported of the more than twenty years of speculation surrounding Craig’s sexuality. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. All I can think of is how American society still judges virtually any crime, life choice and bad decision as a better plight than being a gay man or woman. It brings back the haunting memory of a tearful conversation I had with my mom and dad when I was about 15 years old. I asked if they would be happier if I were a murderer. There response was a simple, “I don’t know.” Here we are at the end of 2007 and the question remains, is there anything worse than being gay?

Let Loose Friday at LQs; Friday, October 19
This Friday we’re making our way to our end of summer let-loose party. Please join us at LQ for a light buffet, 2-for-1 drinks until 7 p.m., and some salsa, hip-hop, R&B and oldies. Ladies pay no cover charge before 7 p.m. and men fork over only $5. So relax, let loose and generate some heat to last you through those cold winter months. LQ is located on Lexington Avenue between 47th and 48th Street.

On Blast
Soliciting sex in a bathroom is NOT synonymous with being gay, just as being straight is NOT synonymous with buying sex from a prostitute. Do you think the bigger issue is that Senator Craig was arrested for solicitation or the allegation that he may be gay?

Keep passin’ the open windows…