Dirty Dishes	Dirty Dishes Archive

Many writers and pundits have noted the supposed irony of anti-gay crusaders like preacherman Ted Haggard or Congressman Mark Foley being caught chasing the cock they crave. Dawn, though, has long recognized that folks, even in public life, reveal their own obsessions through their condemnation of others. Another 'phobe caught drooling over dick? File it under "Dog bites man." But last month's arrest of Florida Republican State Representative Bob Allen so well illustrates the hypocrisy and corruption of the anti-gay sex crowd that Dawn is compelled to share details with readers.

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ep. Allen, who authored legislation to increase Florida's penalties for public sex, was arrested on July 11 in a men's room at Veterans Memorial Park in Titusville, Florida. His alleged crime was offering to fellate an undercover cop for $20.

The first point to note is that Titusville taxpayers are subsidizing police officers to impersonate men interested in gay sex in an effort to punish men interested in gay sex. In a written statement, Titusville officer Danny Kavanaugh recalled entering the restroom twice (making himself look like a cruiser) and said he was drying his hands in a stall (!) when Allen peered over the door. After peering over the stall a second time, Allen pushed open the door and joined Kavanaugh inside, the officer wrote. (Now, it seems to Dawn that by the time one has allowed a fellow toilet-goer inside one's own stall, the visitor should expect hospitality, not harassment; it's just good manners.)

After Allen noted that "this is kind of a public place," Kavanaugh suggested going somewhere else. Kavanaugh added, "Well look, man, I'm trying to make some money; you think you can hook me up with 20 bucks?" According to Florida's Sun-Sentinel, as Allen turned and motioned for the officer to follow him to his car, Kavanaugh identified himself as a police officer by raising his shirt and exposing his badge. When Allen was being loaded into the patrol car, he asked whether "it would help" if he was a state legislator. The officer replied, "No."

So, even though Allen had every reason to think his new-found buddy was interested in homosex, and even though he was invited into the cop's stall, and even though it was the cop who brought up money, and even though the pair planned to retreat to a more private place, and even though no one else was around and no one complained, Allen was busted for the crime of simply wanting sex with a man. It would be hard to detail a more egregious case of anti-gay entrapment, and yet none of the mainstream, nor gay, reports that Dawn has read have noted the unscrupulous and bigoted police behavior.

Of course, Dawn's sympathy for Mr. Allen is compromised by the realization that, as a legislator, he campaigned to increase penalties for those having sex in "public" places. But such hypocrisy is, as noted, commonplace.

More shocking was Allen's unvarnished racism.

"This was a pretty stocky black guy, and there was nothing but other black guys around in the park," Allen told police. (Evidently, the representative, who is white, was in the mood for dark meat that afternoon.) In a taped statement after his arrest, Allen said he feared he "was about to be a statistic" and would have said anything just to get away, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

So we are treated to the spectacle of Florida's criminal justice system devoting resources to a case wherein the "crime" is wanting gay sex, and the "defense" is negrophobia. Ah, the Sunshine State....