Craig Scandal Stirs Debate on GOP 'Gay Hypocrisy'

Craig Scandal Stirs Debate on GOP 'Gay Hypocrisy' [Excerpts]

(CNSNews.com) - has led homosexual activists to renew charges that "closeted conservative politicians voting against the interests of the gay community" are "infuriating, pathetic hypocrites." But pro-family advocates have responded that "gay" groups also know the "h-word" well.

"What's up with elected officials like Senator Craig?" asked Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), in a news release. "They stand for so-called 'family values' and fight basic protections for gay people while furtively seeking other men for sex."

Such individuals are "infuriating, pathetic hypocrites," he stated. "What more can you say?"

Foreman went on to criticize GOP leaders for reacting more harshly to Craig's situation than with Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), whose telephone number turned up in the records of the owner of a female escort service known as the Washington Madam.

Kevin Naff, editor of the homosexual Washington Blade newspaper, also blasted Craig in an editorial for his apparent hypocrisy in voting against pro-homosexual legislation while supposedly engaging in homosexual activity in secret.

Americans for Truth (AFT) - an organization that says it aims to expose and counter "the homosexual activist agenda" - took a different view of the scandal in a statement issued Friday.

Addressing Foreman's charges of Republican "hypocrisy," AFT President Peter LaBarbera said that the NGLTF "should know that 'h-word' well" because the task force and another homosexual group, Lambda Legal, "have enabled and promoted homosexual 'public sex' - of the type alleged against Sen. Craig - for years."

"Lambda Legal publishes a 'Little Black Book,' which is linked to a homosexual Web site as a helpful tool for 'cruising' men to stay out of legal trouble," he said. "'Cruising' is a 'gay' term describing the search for sexual partners, including in public places such as parks and store restrooms.

"Rather than tell men outright not to engage in such reckless depravities, Lambda Legal's 'Little Black Book' features headlines like 'Cruising Safely' and advises, 'If you cruise in parks, bathrooms or other spaces open to public view, trust your instincts, be aware of your surroundings - and know your rights.'" LaBarbera continued.

And "before calling others hypocrites, Foreman should check the speakers' logs for past Task Force conferences," he said. "In its 1998 'Creating Change' conference, the Task Force invited as a panelist the webmaster for the 'Cruising for Sex' Web site."

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