Senator Craig's Tearoom

Senator Larry Craig who likes to have sex in public washrooms asserts he is not gay.

"Idaho Senator Asserts: 'I Never Have Been Gay'."

He may be 'technically' correct. Some 'straight' men like to have anonymous sex in public washrooms too.

For over 100 years, police surveillance and sting operations have targeted public toilets - or "tearooms" - frequented by gay men in search of sex.

But tearooms were also frequented by other classes. The washrooms of New York's subway system were "(the) meeting place for everyone," as one man put it. A businessman on his way home to his wife and children in one of the outer boroughs could engage in quick sex at the end of the workday but still not identify as gay.

And somethings never change.....

10% Of Straight Men Have Sex With Men, New York

Almost 10% of men who said they were straight had had sex with at least one man during the last twelve months, according to a new study carried out by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 70% of them were married. Many of these men said they had not used a condom and had not been tested for HIV.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) is a term used mostly in the United States to classify male persons who engage in sex with other males, regardless of whether they self-identify as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. The term is intended to reference a particular category of people as a risk-group for HIV, and is considered a behavioural category

In a study conducted by Preeti Pathela and colleagues (reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine) nearly 4200 New York City men were interviewed by telephone and asked 130 questions about health-related matters. Embedded in the demographic questions midway through the survey was a question about the man’s sexual orientation. Later, at the end of the survey, each man was asked about the number of men and women with whom he’d had sex during the previous 12 months.

Of the men who labeled their sexual orientation and reported having sex in the past year:

• 85.8% identified as straight and reported sex only with women
• 3.3% identified as gay and reported sex only with men
• 1.1% identified as bisexual and reported sex with men, women, or both.

But:

• 8.9% identified as straight and reported sex only with men
• 0.7% identified as straight and reported sex with women and men.

Combining the last two groups, nearly 10% of the men identified themselves as straight but had at least one male sexual partner in the previous 12 months. About 70% of these men were married. Nearly all reported having sex with only one partner in the past year.

This comment attached to the Wall Street Journal blog on Senator Craig's denial of being gay, makes the same point.

But let’s not have the discussion that America really needs to have: gay men don’t have sex in public bathrooms. They have their gay bars, clubs and websites for that. It’s the straight men traveling on “business” that play footsies in the public johns, who wouldn’t be caught dead in a gay bar or bookstore. Who’s have sex in a public restroom? Your “straight” husband is!!!! LOL I should know. I’ve had sex w/ many “straight” men who were cheating on their families, only to tell me after I took care of their needs…cheating me, their families and themselves. Wake up America. Stop shooting gay folks as scapegoats. It’s the straight men who don’t want to come out of the closet for fear of being labeled queens who are troublemakers.
http://www.williamcastillo.com

Comment by William Castillo - August 28, 2007 at 9:55 pm

However for truly anonymous sex Senator Craig might have considered sticking to the internet where you can have a relationship with a man and remain straight.

The Internet has created a space where people can experiment with their sexuality. Many heterosexual men, who have previously merely fantasized about it, take the plunge and have cyber sex with other men. These are some of the findings in Typing, Doing and Being-­A Study of Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexuality on the Internet, a new dissertation from Malmö University College in Sweden. Michael W. Ross will defend the thesis on March 10, and the public defense will be the first ever at the Faculty of Health and Society as well as the first in the new research field of Health and Society.

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