Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

Goose the Gander?

The so-called "sex scandal" of Senator Larry Craig involved no sexual activity -- only "peeping," tapping of the feet, and swiping of the hands. Senator Craig was simply expressing his sexual interest in another male who seemed to be sexually available. What difference does it make whether the senator did this on the street or in a men's restroom in an airport terminal? There was nothing scandalous about Senator Craig's conduct. The scandalous conduct was that of the policeman who entrapped the senator by pretending to be sexually available.

P

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olice entrapment of men seeking out or engaging in sex with other men in public, whether in a public restroom or some other public place, is homophobic and needs to be stopped. Gay sex is not the only sex taking place in public. In a recent MSNBC online poll, titled "Hot Monogamy: an intimate look at sex and love," 22 percent of the 77,895 respondents said they'd had sex in public (http://www.snbc.msn.com/id/12410076). Plenty of heterosexual sex occurs at public beaches and public parks, inside cars parked in public places, in elevators, in public bathrooms and public changing rooms, and many other public settings. Any number of Hollywood movies and popular television shows reflect this very fact, without any whiff of its being "scandalous" and requiring the arrest of participating individuals. Public sex between supposedly monogamous heterosexuals is winked at, allowed, and not persecuted for being morally offensive. It is only public gay sex that is persecuted for being morally offensive. This is because gay sex -- especially unapologetically "promiscuous" and so-called "anonymous" gay sex -- threatens heterosexual power by undermining prevailing sexual norms.

In the aftermath of the Craig affair, we in the gay community need to ask ourselves one vital question: why do we still tolerate police stings targeting men who seek gay sex in public? Men seeking out or engaging in public sex with other men will continue to be at risk for entrapment, arrest, and imprisonment as long as we in the gay community keep our heads down and accept the prejudicial treatment of public gay sex by the police and other law enforcement officials

Senator Craig should not have been entrapped. We in the gay community who allow police entrapment to continue against men seeking out or engaging in public gay sex share the blame for the senator's disgrace. Gay people, and especially gay men, need to demand that homosexual sex -- wherever it occurs -- be granted the same latitude that is granted to heterosexual sex. Alternatively, we can demand that all people who seek public sex -- whether it is homosexual sex or heterosexual sex -- be equally targeted for entrapment and arrest by law enforcement officials. See how long heterosexuals tolerate being entrapped and arrested for simply expressing an interest in having sex with each other in public!

Gay people need to fight for both individual and collective sexual self-determination. Part of this fight is to demand an end to the police entrapment of men seeking out or engaging in public gay sex. Otherwise we gay people -- in particular, we gay men -- will increasingly find ourselves locked behind prison doors, regretting our refusal to stand up for sexual freedom.

Edward Martinez
Boston, Massachusetts

Border Woes

Thank you for an informative magazine. I particularly enjoyed the article "Border Security at Peace Bridge" [September 2007; available at Guidemag.com]. I know many of us have experienced such harassment crossing into the U.S., at crossings coast to coast.

B.M.
Pictou, Nova Scotia

Loves Politics, Sex

I just discovered The Guide by picking up a copy at Charlie's, a bar in Austin, Texas, and wanted to comment on the quality and scope of your publication. In short, well done!

It would be nice if the gay travel section could be a bit more developed. In my opinion the maps were mostly irrelevant as up-to-date maps are easy to obtain at any of the cities listed. I found the political articles especially good and hope you can both expand this area and keep up the quality of reporting. Of course I enjoyed the sex content, especially the nice story excerpted from Boyd McDonald's 12th volume. However, it would have been nice to have info on how to obtain the entire book.

Dean
via e-mail

Thanks for the kind words. We are working to expand and improve our map offerings, so keep checking back. Alas, Boyd's volumes are mostly out-of-print, though a full-service gay bookstore may help you track down old copies.

Discovers Guidemag.com

I really enjoyed reading the Munich article at Guidemag.com; an excellent account on gay life in and around Munich! I've lived here for ten years now, so I really can tell.

I never checked out your website before, but since I enjoy reading American gay publications, I think I shall come re-visit it again -- especially when I travel to other places; your travel guide section seems to be quite elaborate!

Olav
Munich, Germany

Dismantle the Statue of Liberty?

Congrats on your editorial about "Illegal Aliens." The whole discussion of this has been absolutely nauseating to me for a very long time. I've long thought someone should propose dismantling the Statue of Liberty, or at least taking off the inscription about ,"Give us your tired, your poor..." -- clearly a relic of a bygone era that Alberto Gonzales would probably call "quaint."

B.M.
Washington, D.C.