GP Update – Saturday, 12:50PM Eastern…. Senator Craig Announces Resignation….

“The people of Idaho deserve a senator who can devote 100 percent of his time and effort to the critical issues of our state and of our nation,” said Craig, speaking under a clear blue sky at 10:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. ET) outside the historic Boise Depot in Idaho’s capital city.

“Therefore it is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the Senate, effective September 30th.”

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Original Post by GPW: 

As I was working on a post about my conversation with a woman from Americans for Truth, I read on the web that Senator Craig announced that he will resign. I understand that this was a tough decision for him to make.

Whie I have been critical of the Senator’s judgment, I do think it unfortunate that, in the future, a man who, by all reports, for over a quarter-century, had diligently worked on behalf of the citizens of the Gem State, will likely be remembered primarily for this one thing.

I believe he is doing the right thing. And hope and pray that this decision will help him find some peace of mind — and the support of his family and friends will make it easier for him to get through this very difficult time.

Among the many interesting people I’ve met at Breaking Stories, Breaking Waves, the LGBT Media Summit and National Convention, has been an individual I least expected to meet here. Allyson Smith, a Reporter/Researcher for Americans for Truth, a “national organization devoted exclusively to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda,” has been attending the convention and even sat in on my panel, “The Right Approach: Covering LGBT Conservatives.”

A few hours ago, while chatting with the Washington Blade‘s Kevin Naff in the hotel bar, we saw her walk back and asked Miss Smith to join us. Not only did she agree with alacrity, but when she spoke with us, she offered conversation that was both interesting and engaging — and of particular note, given one of my primary concerns, she was above all quite civil.

Her views of the conference were similar to my own, saying that “everyone has been very nice to me.” Wayne Besen, who moderated our panel yesterday and has written extensively on ex-gays, noted her attitude was similar to that of many such conservatives. When Allyson, Kevin and I discussed her civil reception, we all agreed that often we let political disagreement create animosity.

“If we disagree with people,” I said, “we feel we have to hate them.” Fortunately that wasn’t true with this representative of a group which holds a view of homosexuality at odds with the reality of the lives of so many gay men and lesbians.

Smith noted the amount of destructive behavior in the gay community, with people having promiscuous sex and often not taking precautions to prevent the spread of STDs. Kevin and I acknowledged that such behavior persists in the gay community, but noted that it is not limited to gay men—and that a number of straight men (and women) are also promiscuous, often destructively so.

And I pointed out that while there are exceptions, lesbians tend not to have the same self-destructive sexual behaviors as gay men, havings relationships which correspond with the heterosexual married ideal.

When she talked about how Christian values offer an alternative to homosexual behavior, I countered that gay men can bring (indeed many have brought) such values into their relationships with other men. Somewhat agreeing with her point defining a monogamous marriage between one man and one woman as the ideal, I pointed out that gay people could also be inspired by that ideal. (I even noted how I have blogged about it in posts filed under this category).

We did agree that promiscuous sex can lead to shame and emptiness.

And I pointed out that while there are exceptions, lesbians tend not to have the same self-destructive sexual behaviors as gay men and tend to for relationships which correspond with the heterosexual married ideal.

In all, it was a good conversation. I regretted having to end it so I could attend a panel which was considerbly less interesting than our exchange.

I very much appreciated her coming to the conference and taking the time to listen to a great variety of gay perspectives here. While we disagree strongly, I hope our conversation helped her see that there are gay men who define our orientation as involving more than immediate and frequent gratification of our sexual desires. That many of us are seeking the same sort of things that straight people are looking for, including socially conservative individuals of faith.

Given my commitment to civil discourse, I have offered Miss Smith a chance to respond to this post. I will post it as an addendum, even if I disagree with her ideas. And invite you to reply to her thoughts in the same manner (and tone) that she offers them.

ADDENDUM FROM ALLLYSON SMITH:

I appeciated the opportunity to speak with you and Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff at the NLGJA conference today. Our exchange was interesting and civil, and I was pleased that we were able to discuss our respective views in a respectful manner. And everyone else whom I’ve personally encountered at Breaking Stories, Breaking Waves has treated me with civility and kindness, which I didn’t expect and deeply appreciate. Thank you.

Even though there are many issues we will likely never agree upon–some of which arose in our conversation–I was happily surprised to find we concur that promiscuous sex persists in the homosexual community. “Our side”–we Christian conservatives (CCs)–often feel that when we point out such a fact, we are labeled with epithets such as “haters” or “bigots” or worse, when all we are attempting to do is point out the truth in love and concern.

[The rests of her addendum continues below the jump:]

(more…)

I had hoped to live-blog parts of Breaking Stories, Breaking Waves, the LGBT Media Summit and National Convention, I’m now attending in San Diego. I had been invited to participate on the panel, “The Right Approach: Covering LGBT Conservatives,” along with the BoifromTroy, Scott Schmidt and James Vaughn, the Director of Log Cabin California.

Anyway, the reason I’m not live-blogging this is that the hotel we’re staying at the Westin Horton Plaza, while otherwise an excellent hotel, only has spotty wireless in the lobby and conference areas. It does not have wireless in the rooms. Odd that the sponsors of the conference, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association would choose a hotel without inadequate wireless for a journalists confab. That notwithstanding, the group has done a great job organizing the event.

I’ve been impressed with the convention program, the facility in registration and the diverse offerings of their continental breakfasts.

The other thing that has impressed (and kind of surprised) me has been the reception I have received here. Normally when I attend gay events, I find the mostly left-leaning participants heaping scorn on me because of my politics. But, while I do get some ribbing for my politics, it has all been in good fun and those doing the ribbing don’t seem to be judging me adversely for it

In our panel, Scott, James and I all agreed that we are better received as gays in conservative/Republican circles than as Republicans in gay circles.

I felt the questions that moderator Wayne Besen asked were largely good, but a little leading. And he, like many others, has been focusing on the Larry Craig story, confirming the observation which sparked my last post about the saturation sensationalization of this story.

I’m pleased to note that when I introduce myself, many people are familiar with the blog, most having a largely favorable impression of it and many (even on the left) appreciating our presence in the blogosphere. Some have asked how we have been received among the conservative blogs and have been intrigued (for lack of better word) about our generally favorable reception among other blogging conservatives, particularly some of the leading blogs.

One guy from an MSM outlet, who had not heard of the blog, upon learning of its rightward leanings, said there was a need for gay conservative voices, holiding that it’s a mistake to assume all gays are liberal. (I did not get to ask if it was okay to use him name and will ask him the next time I see him.)

And while people here have not been dismissive of me because of my politics, they do identify me for it. Being a gay Republican is still (to many) an anomaly, that it seems that’s the one thing they’ll remember me for, even if I have waxed eloquent about my love for movies and mythology, particularly my dissertation topic, and have recited lines Beowulf in the original.

I’m also met some interesting people, some with whom I’ve corresponded or about whom we’ve written and linked on the blog, including Chris Crain who is much taller in person than he looks in his pictures on the web. And I met the Washington Blade‘s Kevin Naff who appeared on our BlogTalkRadio podcast after the Logo Presidential Forum. Nice guys both.

I briefly talked to one man whom I have long respected while strongly disagreeing with his politics. When Larry Kramer asked a question in the Plenary session on the 40 years of the Advocate, he noted that being gay was about “more than just sex.” Interestingly, that magazine’s deputy editor said that she had asked disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey to write a piece on Larry Craig. No word yet on whether he accepted. But, she did respond favorably to my criticism on their absence of conservative columnists.

More on much of this anon.

A man on his way to New York City was a couple rows behind me on my flight today from Birmingham to Charlotte:

“I don’t think people elsewhere understand that the other sport in Alabama besides football is dodging State Troopers on the interstates.” – On cultural differences between the South and other parts of the USA.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)