'Tapping of the foot is pretty standard for men who cruise in toilets. They will usually go to the stall at the far end of the strip of toilets. They will see each other and usually decide to go someplace else. The vast majority have no interest in being seen. They may be meeting in public locations, but they will be as discreet as possible.' — Keith Griffith, owner of CruisingForSex.com, discussing the Sen. Larry Craig toilet-sex scandal with ABC News, Aug. 28.
'My gut wrenched when I read of Sen. Larry Craig's bathroom arrest. I remembered my own late-night encounter with the law at a Garden State Parkway rest stop following a political dinner in north Jersey. I pulled into the rest stop, parked my car, flashed my headlights, which was 'the signal,' and waited. Glancing in my rearview mirror, I saw a state trooper approaching. I desperately tried to convince the trooper of my innocence, showing him my former prosecutor's badge, a gift from the office when I left. The trooper radioed his office and returned. 'I never want to see you here again,' he said. I survived for another day. I was in my late 20s. It would be another 25 years before my parallel lives collided and I was coerced out of the 'closet.'' — Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey writing in the Washington Post, Sept. 3.
'Sen. Larry Craig ... has been publicly denying assertions that he's gay since at least 1982, when a whisper campaign implicated him in a House page scandal. Back then he called allegations of homosexual conduct 'despicable.' Last year he called new charges brought by notorious gay-rights activist Mike Rogers 'completely ridiculous.' On Monday, Craig denied 'any inappropriate conduct' in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport ( even after he pleaded guilty ) . And today, he declared 'I am not gay and never have been.' And in between his 1982 denial and last year's, he called President Bill Clinton a 'naughty boy' and talked of giving the president a little spanking for his Oval Office tryst and denial of it.' — Mary Ann Akers writing on the Washington Post's blog about the Sen. Larry Craig toilet-sex scandal, Aug. 28.
'People in California have to be prepared to march in celebration or in protest. If he signs it, then there should be a massive celebration, and if he doesn't sign it, there should be a humongous demonstration of anger, which there wasn't last time. It's shocking that the gay population in California has been invisible on all this. You also need to have a massive protest before Schwarzenegger acts. Tell him, 'Sign that bill or else.' You need to have a lot of angry gay people. You tell him, 'We are angry you sold us down the river so far, and we won't let you do it again.'' — Author and activist Larry Kramer to this column Sept. 1 on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's expected veto of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Schwarzenegger vetoed an identical bill in 2005—the only time any U.S. legislature has voted to open the institution to same-sex couples.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
