Forget the success of the troop surge in Iraq. Let's talk about gay bathroom sex.

The increasing number of outed gay men in the Republican Party, especially those who have railed against homosexuality in their careers, is easily explained by the concept of the reaction formation. In short, it's a psychological principle that causes people to attempt to hide or completely avoid their true natures by outwardly proclaiming the opposite.

The cognitive dissonance must be remarkable, and so the rationalizations that such people must use are no doubt equally as remarkable. I have no doubt that Craig believes he is not gay, and that a few minutes spent having sex hardly makes him (in his mind) a gay man. These are the kinds of rationalizations that gay men throughout history have used to reconcile their private (or quasi-public) sexual behavior with their public words.

"What makes the Republican Party -- and the conservative movement more generally -- so attractive to closeted homosexual men?"

The word you're looking for is Idahomosexuality.

Idahomosexuality n. Sexual desire stimulated equally by members of the same sex and by loud, pious denunciations of open homosexuality.

"Thank you all for coming out". I swear I heard Craig open his press conference with those words. I nearly fell off my chair with laughter.

Some people put the different reactions of the Republican establishment to the Vitters and Craig scandals down to homophobia. The real reason is much more cynical. If Vitters goes a Dem takes his place, if Craig goes a Republican takes his place. So much for family values.

Joe left out probably the best one, ole Bob Allen of Florida who offered to blow an undercover cop and pay $20 for the privilege. Later he said he did it because he was afraid that some black men near by might mug him.

Also I hear some rumours that Larry Flynt has some more sex scandals brewing. Could be very interesting. I bet Republicans are starting to regret starting this off with Monica and the dress.

Hitler, the rumors spread by the Pentagon that the surge is a success and not the miserable failure it actually is are about as credible as the rumors that Sen. Craig is heterosexual. It seems like there are two reasons why homosexuality is so prevalent among the conservatives:1.they can't get women to sleep with them voluntarily. 2.they hate women.

then he isn't gay, he's just horny so the theory goes(and no one can deny that for 99% of men no strings attached anonymous sex is more readily available from gay, or other "just horny", men than it is from women).

As Ralph Cramden once said: "If the shoe fits, take it off."

This is about so much more than gay sex. It's about the hysteria about all things sexual from the far right. What started out as an acute overreaction to the cultural liberalization of sexual attitudes, followed by a maniacal obsession with Bill Clinton's private life, has become a totally distorted view of a normal part of human existence. It's not just about gay rights or gay marriage. The right has attempted to control every aspect of sexuality, from adolescent curiosity about an integral part of adult life, to a total intrusion into the decision-making processes all women have faced since the beginning of time about how to manage the demands of motherhood, sexuality, and life choices. It's time to STOP. Let's all focus on things that actually strengthen families and human life in general. Equal access to education and health care, suppport for families where both parents have to work, removal of religious principles from secular and civil discourse. I don't care that Craig did or did not have sex in at bathroom in Minneapolis. Let him straighten out his own affairs. Just stay out of mine. Barney Frank does.

Diana Witt

First, I think quietmind nailed the basic cause and effect at work here. While it may look to some like the last days of the Third Reich (and there are many similarities), the fact is, as has also been pointed out, it has been going on for more than a half-century already within the most conservative corner of the Republican party. No one ought to draw simple conclusions from this, because to do so would be to either vilify or simply dismiss gay men who exist in denial. It's not really funny, although one can hardly help but smile at the bizarre counter-intuition at work here. Since most of us (including Republican me)have very little sympathy for the Right's vision of families and family "values", it is hard not to see a sort of horrible humor in the quite regular occurrence of blown (sorry) covers. On the other hand, it is painful to watch a man say, over and over again, "I am not gay", whether he is or not.

Jack Kerouac was both Catholic and conservative. He also was at the very least bi-curious if not outright gay. As a young and rather angry teen who even in the late 1950's was trying to find a way to stay on board the Republican applecart (wobbly lo these many years), I found Kerouac's fumbling around both humorous and a huge relief. (By the way, I'm not gay).

As the party and the ideology come up against this most peculiar-yet-absolutely-natural attraction/revulsion and perfect hiding place for those who don't believe it's ever gonna be time to come out, I watch more with detached interest and some of that late-50's variety of relief, since this is going to have to be set straight sooner or later (did I mention I'm not gay?) to the betterment of the party.

It may be that my personal life's having been touched in a horrible way by someone's denial of his homosexuality (the harm to a loved one has been incalculable) has caused me to feel a certain sympathy for these guys who can't, even in this enlightened period (I'm SO not gay) and, again, to feel some hope that the regularity of these unplanned outings will cause the party (and especially the most conservative part of it) to come to terms at last with the fact that, if we haven't noticed, this doesn't happen to many Democrats, who seem to be rampantly hetero. I find this profoundly interesting.

And while I'm not gay, I maybe oughta look into my obsession with girls, er, women, at least in light of the number of times I've been married - kinda like that lovable old perv Fred Thompson. Now he's got it goin' on in at least one area I can appreciate!