Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Larry Craig's sexuality a 'holy grail' in Idaho

The Bible Belt Blogger has a personal account of being a cub reporter covering the Idaho senator at the center of today's GOP sex scandal:

Rumors had been around for years that [Larry] Craig was gay. And some Idaho journalists were eager to find out if the rumors were true -- and print them.

Because Craig had voted against "gay rights' legislation, some reporters considered his sexual orientation to be fair game. I felt like Sen. Craig's sex life should be off-limits -- as long as he obeyed the law.

As I recall, during the 1996 campaign I was instructed to ask Sen. Craig about the rumors that he was gay. I asked as discretely as possible -- during a lengthy interview when there weren't plenty of people eavesdropping. I think I apologized for having to broach the subject. He denied the allegations. I felt sleazy even raising the topic.

That was the end of the matter for me, but other reporters continued digging -- off and on for over a decade. It was like the Holy Grail of Idaho journalism -- to figure out Larry Craig's sexual proclivities.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The man is not gay - there is a huge misconception that a man having sex with man is gay . . . have you checked out how many marrieds hang out on Craigs List men-seeking-men for quick fix sex while married to women? In fact they are quite capable of justifying the behavior and calling it bi-sexuality. In real fact men like Craig struggle to control the urge to have anomymous sex and it is much easier to involve other men than women. You know us chicks - we want dates/commitment etc. Guys well 20 minutes and a quick thrill until the next ritual. Patrick Carnes is the expert - lets have him evaluate Craig.