Restrooms Not For "Rest" Anymore

The hoopla surrounding the recently publicized fact that Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) pleaded guilty two months ago to disorderly/lewd conduct has many takes. The three-term senator was busted in a Minnesota Airport men's room for soliciting sex with another man--an undercover cop--who was located in an adjacent stall. You can find several of the takes here, here, here and here and most, of course, have a political bent. Craig held a press conference a couple of hours ago during which he claims not to be a homosexual, refuses to resign and says that he will decide later whether to stand for re-election next year. Cue senate ethics probe.

With all of the (admittedly fun) scandal-mongering going on, what I really want to know about is this: when did airport men's rooms become the sex spot for male homosexuals? Perhaps I'm a bit sheltered, but if I had a son between the ages of six and eleven--too old to go into the ladies' room with me but not yet large enough to defend himself against an aggressive adult--I probably wouldn't be.

Perhaps men so inclined wouldn't take the chance on grabbing a boy in such an enclosed space--one from which such a predator would not have an easy avenue of escape--but is that a chance which you would take with your son? And even if there are no child predators present, seeing/hearing two men boinking in the restroom is not something which I would want my son to have to experience.

When did it become dangerous to send older boys into airport bathrooms by themselves? And why isn't something being...never mind. Our airports aren't totally secure from terrorists. Why should the state of affairs be any different with regard to perverts? (And, yes, people who have any kind of sex in public restrooms are perverts.)

Both Democrats and Republicans are calling on Craig to resign. I agree that he should. He pleaded guilty to possibly exposing somebody's child to his very adult sexuality. Would you want someone like this in DC representing your interests?*

*If you live in Barney Frank's (D-MA) district, forget I asked.

UPDATE: Welcome Balloon Juice readers! It's nice to know that John and I still agree on some things. :-)

UPDATE: Looking for Reasons to Complain

Comments

[Billy]

Why are you equating homosexuality with pedophilia? That's quite ignorant, honestly.

[baldilocks]

You should read more carefully or ask for clarification before you insult the host.

I assume that you're trying to have a conversation with me and not talk to yourself. If want to both ask a question and answer it, this isn't the place.

[Purple Raider]

Not all homosexuals are pedophiles, but almost all pedophiles are homosexuals.

Craig should resign, but Frank should have resigned years ago. But since he's a demonrat, his party thinks his behavior is normal.

[baldilocks]

Hmmmm. I don't know, PR. It seems to me that a lot of little girls end up raped and dead at the hands of grown men these days.

[worn]

At the risk of offending the host, I would like to pose the question alluded to by 'Billy': why should I accept the position that a bathroom where gay men are cruising for sex poses a greater risk for your child coming in contact with a pedophile than, uh, being a Catholic altarboy or Boy Scout?

In regards to the question you posed, I think the answer is a long, long time ago. I remember stories from at least 20 years back about a certain rest area on the GA / AL border being a notorious spot for cruising (used to live down south). And they just shut down a rest area on the I-5 here in Oregon recently for the same reason.

Oh, and I also think that entering any public restroom with people having sex within (regardless of the gender of the participants or the number of them)is an experience I hope to (luckily continue) avoiding.

[baldilocks]

why should I accept the position that a bathroom where gay men are cruising for sex poses a greater risk for your child coming in contact with a pedophile than, uh, being a Catholic altarboy or Boy Scout?

You shouldn't accept that position. Glad I didn't suggest it.

Oh, and I also think that entering any public restroom with people having sex within (regardless of the gender of the participants or the number of them)is an experience I hope to (luckily continue) avoiding.

Me too. However, I think that, in a public restroom, most people would notice that certain something else is amiss should before two people of the opposite sex begin to have sex.

[Walter E. Wallis]

While I have a distaste for homosexuality in large part because of unwelcome advances when I was younger, society has decided that consensual homosexual activity is not illegal. In light of that, it seems that criminalizing homosexual flirting is a contradiction.

[Soldats]

Not all homosexuals are pedophiles, but almost all pedophiles are homosexuals.

This sort of anti-gay myths have been debunked for a while now. Check here for a through rundown with citations: http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/Articles/000,002.htm

And as much as I dislike the prospect of viewing not just public sex, but also public displays of affection whether between gays or straights, I have to agree with Walter in wondering how inelegantly propositioning for gay sex in public is a crime since I see it done by heterosexuals pretty much every day out in public.

[Billy]

"You shouldn't accept that position. Glad I didn't suggest it."

No, of course you didn't. Not in paragraphs 2, 3, or 4. No allusion to "overpowering" children. No insinuation that gay men are simply trolling for young kids. Glad you never made that connection. I feel relieved.

[baldilocks]

Glad you've come to your senses, Billy.

[baldilocks]

Walter:

Flirtation alone would be one thing. However, the senator copped to lewd/disorderly conduct.

I'm thinking that the location is the key factor here and the fact that others have taken such flirtation to its conclusion in place rather than take it to a Motel 6.

[madmatt]

Barney Frank is an openly gay man...he doesn't have to cruise bathrooms...he can walk up to somebody he likes and ask them out. It is called freedom, something craig wants to take away from millions of americans because he is a hypocritical scumbag.

[baldilocks]

I didn't bring Frank up because he was a homosexual. I brought Frank up because he was running a brothel out of his home: a crime--something that senators and congressmen seem to have a long history of getting away with.

[Roderick]

If I remember correctly it was determined that the brothel was being run by Barney Frank's live in lover not Mr. Frank.

As for brothels, maybe we should investigate why a male prostitute named Jeff Gannon was staying overnight in the White House during GW Bush's first term.

[worn]

Re: "didn't suggest it" - I will grant that you didn't do this explicitly, but would like to point out that your prose is worded loosely enough for your readers to draw that implication. I certainly did. There is a rather quick leap in thought from wonderment about the phenomenon of homosexual bathroom cruising to concern that a hypothetical son might be snatched or assaulted by a pedophile in such a bathroom - this jump happens over the course of three sentences.

The thing that strikes me as weird about all this is that I really can't see how an airport restroom can easily be used as a place for the consumation of sex acts, owing to the fact that there are security personnel literally everywhere (this was the Minneapolis airport) and can be summoned on a moment's notice by any concerned citizen. Freeway rest areas are anonymous enough, I suppose, but it surely seems like someone would report disturbing couplings, gruntings, etc. to the appropriate personnel quickly in a major airport. But hell, maybe there's something I'm missing here...

[madmatt]

If whorehouses are an issue why aren't you trying to get vitter removed?

[baldilocks]

Vitter should resign too.

[baldilocks]

worn:

The fact that some readers have chips on their shoulders about homosexuality and predatory behavior is not my problem. I'm not using coded speech, but words with objective definitions. The fact that some would pretend to that I'm saying what I manifestly didn't say shows that some are looking for a reason to be angry.

madmatt:

As a matter of fact I think that most, regardless of party, in both the House and Senate are crooks to greater or lesser degrees. I didn't vote for any of them. (My senators are Feinstein and Boxer; my rep. is Waters.) How about you all? Can you disavow the crooked senator/rep. in your area. If not, spare me the self-righteousness.

[ErikZ]

It really sounded like you were someone's "Paranoid overprotective mother" there to me also.

On the plus side, you got linked! Your next post should be on "Kids these days." ;)

[baldilocks]

Except that I'm no one's mother.

I'll discuss the misconceptions about this post in a follow-up.

[baldilocks]

Follow-up posted.

[Wrymouth]

Good on ya, Baldi! You've just made my 'morning browse' list; after the sad demise of Wuzzadem.com I have been wandering aimlessly for a few weeks... FYI, I have 5-year-old and 13-year-old sons, and am not very nervous about either public bathrooms or Catholic priests or Boy Scout leaders, except for the usual germs/bad doctrine/campfire-burns issues.

Still.

I think those of us whose childhood pictures *are* in black-and-white can reasonably lament the death of the age of childhood freedoms, like me and my friend shooting movie film (super 8, mind you) all weekend long unsupervised.

People can *say* that Things Have Always Been Just As Bad as today, but I know better. History reminds us with a wink: things change.

Very nice posts; thought-provoking.

Sorry about the folks not being able to discriminate between homosexuality and child predation. "Discrimination" has become such a loaded word that people sometimes forget it is often good to be able to discriminate.

TTFN

[Walter E. Wallis]

I believe Craig's action was akin to "Buy you a drink, sweetie" that you probably get asked thousands of times a year. It was of course, gauche.

[baldilocks]

Trust me. I've never received a "Buy you a drink, sweetie" offer or equivalent such offers in the danged restroom.

Sorry for being so emphatic, but I think that's the issue that's being glossed over. My pants aren't down in a bar.

[eLad in MO]

Why are you equating homosexuality with pedophilia?

[eLad in MO]

Seriously, I don't think ALL republicans are gay-bashing closeted homosexuals. However, you gotta admit this is all pretty rich, hmmmmm?

BTW, very funny new name for the ruling party, DemonRats. BWAH HAA HAA!! Very witty, but too bad this same creativity couldn't be used to help the republicans stay law-abiding, ethical individuals. How about sponsoring some sort of ethics class, or basic civics classes on honoring oaths to uphold the US constitution?

Your thoughts?

[TG]

If you're a healthy, out gay man you meet other gay men in healthy settings, like through friends. If you're forced to live a closeted life and deny the very essence of your being ("I'm not gay. I never was gay." ) you end up doing stupid crap like trying give blowjobs in public restrooms. Barney Frank has never been accused of having sex in public, so get real. It's repressed gay people who do this, not people who accept who they are. Ironically, some of those repressed people turn around and try to repress everybody else.