Sauce for the Gander

With great regret, I must direct your attention again to the matter of Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID). In an apparent case of one's self-image far outstripping their self-respect, Sen. Craig has made it clear that he intends to stay in office, concluding that "it is possible for me to work here effectively" (as reported by NPR.) It is yet unclear to this observer how such could be the case, as Mr. Craig not only was charged with, but plead guilty to a criminal offense.

Indeed, his guilty plea was sufficient enough on its own merit such that a Minnesota judge refused to allow him to withdraw it. As discussed elsewhere, the root of my exasperation and disgust with Craig lies not in any alleged hypocrisy on his part, but in the arrogance that underlies his belief that he has a divine right to hold office, irrespective of his criminal behavior.

Of course - American culture being what it is presently - there are those who sneer at the idea that soliciting sex in a public bathroom is a crime at all. In an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune, Rex Wockner argues that "cruising" for anonymous sex in men's rooms is a "victimless 'crime' that is only visible to those who are looking to find it." It will take great effort to overcome Mr. Wockner's preponderant obliviousness. Given the furtive nature of criminals, police investigators spend most of their time "looking to find" perpetrators of crimes; such is the nature of policework. (One also wonders what Wockner's opinion of the victimless nature of cruising would be if heterosexual men were soliciting sex in unisex bathrooms.)

And now we come to the contretemps vis-a-vis the washed-up versus the unwashed (although in this case, I'm not sure who's who.) We have video of celeb-TV stalwart Danny Bonaduce "pnwing" former "Survivor" contestant Johnny Fairplay (aka Jon Dalton) after Fairplay gave Bonaduce a "hug" during a reality TV awards show. Bear with me, and consider a few things as you watch the clip. First of all, imagine if Johnny Fairplay were dry-humping some comely female starlet. How long would it have been before security rushed the stage to separate the two, and then proceed to take Johnny backstage to separate him from consciousness? All of that would have happened in the time that it would take Mike Nifong to yell "sexual assault." (Lest you doubt, think of the uproar that came out of India and other quarters earlier this year when Richard Gere kissed Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.)

Worse yet, Mr. Fairplay had the temerity to file charges against Bonaduce. Could we imagine a male perp pressing charges against a female after he committed sexual battery against her - on videotape no less? Fortunately for Bonaduce, a DA has thrown out battery charges against him, citing "insufficient evidence." To be sure, Mr. Fairplay learned somewhere that it was perfectly respectable to direct gestures of a sexual nature towards a clearly unwilling participant. (Bonaduce wasn't given the opportunity to utter the universally understood cockblock, "No means no.")

All of the foregoing is sufficient evidence that the most radical fringe of the gay male community sees itself as the worthy recipients of "rights plus." This is to say they wish to have all of the benefits of male privilege, along with any and all "rights" that can be wheedled from straights (a re-imagining of marriage apparently being atop the list), with none of tedious genuflection to male-female sexual politics that heterosexual males must endure.

The obvious problem is that - if America is to retain what little cohesiveness exists presently - our society can ill-afford to extend rights without responsibilities to any subculture, irrespective of its racial, gender or orientational idiosyncrasies. My own sense is that this attitude of detached entitlement assumed by gay elites is the best argument for civil unions for gays and lesbians. As discussed elsewhere, it would behoove us to provide same-gender couples the opportunity to live in stable, committed civil unions in a fashion similar to (but not equivalent to) heterosexual marriage. In as much as society wishes for "people in same-sex relationships to take their rightful places as fully-formed adults, society must provide them the spaces to do so."