Something I’ve started to notice is bugging me, though. In the various talking head commentaries, people are referring to Senator Craig as engaging in “those behaviors” or “that kind of thing” or “engaging in this activity.” You know what, it’s (cruising for) man-on-man sex. If we as a culture can’t speak of sexual relations on cable news channels with at least as much frankness (and as little coyness) as any WB teen drama, we’ll never get over the stupid puritanical notions that drive straight-identified people like Larry Craig to seek out illicit, “forbidden,” sexual encounters.

ENDA – please read

On a somewhat different note, a House subcommittee began debate on ENDA this week. The Employment Nondiscrimination Act will do one simple thing… it will prevent businesses and employers of anything except very small businesses and religious institutions from discriminating in employment practices based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Can you believe it’s still legal to fire someone just because they are gay, lesbian or bisexual in 31 states? It’s absurd. This law will NOT make it illegal to exercise free speech, it will NOT force churches to hire queer people, it will NOT lead to massive lawsuits (for evidence – can someone point me to a single example in the 19 states that have passed employment nondiscrimination laws that has seen a significant number of these cases? In fact, even with the law in place, the successful cases of proven discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity are few and often quite egregious).

ENDA will likely see a vote within the next 2-4 weeks. The religious right is gearing up to launch their misinformation campaign. But I know, based on research and poll after poll after poll, that the majority of Americans support this bill. We need Congress to understand that. It doesn’t matter what the polls say… what matters in this kind of “moral issue” (I hate than term) is how many people care enough about this issue to make their voices heard. The anti-gay wingnuts will make their voices heard. I need you, my friends and family and various internet aquaintences, to make your voice heard, too. It’s not enough to support this legislation in theory or on a poll, we need to contact our elected representatives and tell them that our support of basic rights for LGBT people is important enough that we are taking the time to be clear.

Please contact your elected officials by email or by phone and ask them to support HR 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

On Thursday morning, a male festival participant was found dead, hanging from the inside of a two-story tent, according to Mark Pirtle, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that awards the use permit to Burning Man and oversees law enforcement duties. The apparent suicide would be the festival’s first in its 21-year history, Pirtle said. He added that the man had been hanging for two hours before anyone in the large tent thought to bring him down.

“His friends thought he was doing an art piece,” Pirtle said.

I don’t know whether to be horrified or more in love with Burning Man than before. Missing it again this year because I’m in San Diego for the NLGJA (National Gay & Lesbian Journalists Association) Convention and having a blast.

Last night I hit the bars in the Hillcrest area. Maybe it’s the beer goggles phenomenon, maybe it’s because I don’t go to the cruisy S&M (Stand and Model) bars anymore, but the boys in San Diego are really fucking hot. Oh, and I got lucky.

Today’s the last day of heavy conference activity. Tomorrow will just be breakfast and laying by the pool and/or sightseeing. For anyone who’s been to the San Diego zoo before… would a short 9am to noon trip be worth it? Any other things a tourist should see?

I also met a lot of people with whom I’ve had phone conversations over the years, but had never met in person.

I bragged about having the best view/room in the hotel all night and got many offers of company for checking out the late-night view (all talk, no action).

Had an interesting conversation with a somewhat inebriated and embattled (it seemed to me) Boi From Troy about Senator Craig, ENDA, and other Republicans hiding a gay secret (like a certain Republican Governor who has yet to officially declare his intent to run for President). It’s amazing how much we see eye-to-eye on certain issues, despite hom being a rather famous gay Republican blogger and my San-Francisco-Values-Liberalism.

Today will be fairly busy with workshops and other events that involve less alcohol. I didn’t get out of the hotel last night, but tonight I’m planning to travel to Hillcrest with a group of guys I met last night.

“…I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the — you know, and grabbed him, and — and — Hit him against the stall with his head, actually! — And then the cops came and arrested him. But let me say that I’m the least anti-gay right-winger you’ll ever meet.”

If that’s the least anti-gay right-winger I’ll ever meet, how much worse do they get?

Okay… everyone memorize this fact: most men engaging in bathroom-cruising type sex are straight-identified. They don't identify as gay, many of them are married (often with children), and–much like Senator Craig–are often staunchly anti-gay.

Major Darryl Tolleson, Atlanta Police Dept. on sex in public restrooms in Atlanta: “You would think that it would be a gay issue but more and more, overwhelmingly, we’re seeing that these are people with families.”

Therapists also hear plenty about this world in the torment of their patients — both married and gay men and those who eschew the word “gay” and describe themselves as “men who have sex with other men.”Whatever they call themselves, they are often driven by a craving, much like that which drives a drug addict, said Fred Berlin of the National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma at Johns Hopkins University.

I believe Larry Craig when he says he’s not gay. I wouldn’t believe him if he says he’s never had sex with a man.

Meanwhile, I hope the next time Tucker Carlson makes a woman uncomfortable through intentional or unintentional flirtation, she comes back with a friend, bashes his head into something large and solid, then has him arrested.

ETA: GLAAD has weighed in on Tucker’s comments.

San Diego ought to be fun. It’s my first trip there and I’ll spend some time tomorrow figuring out my itinerary (beyond, of course, the conference that is the reason for my trip).

(Only 512 days left until a new administration takes office, but let’s not wait, impeach now!)