Could you maybe just accept this had nothing to do with you, no parties were harmed, no laws were broken, and there is nothing here that feeds into your preconceived notion of the gay community and it’s supposed encouragement of child predation?

Try to just make a straight argument about your beliefs instead of latching onto a situation that more and more has nothing to do with your beliefs or supports them. If you think gay people are predators and child molestors, just make that point. It really, once the evidence and reason is presented, has nothing to do with this alleged incident.

I just happened to be in Christopher Park in NYC this afternoon and I had an intense conversation with a 50+ gay man who was working his way through a bottle of Johnnie Walker (red label) and keeping an eye out for a hook up. He told me his age preferences and how many times a day he would like satisfaction. It reminded me of a driver I hired in Bali who could not believe I was not interested in a succession of 13 year old girls who were for sale by their desperate parents.

When your life is addicted to sex of any given nature, you are not (in my mind) so much human as you are trapped by your own nymphomania.

David Letterman and Roman Polanski can find acceptance from Whoopie, Madonna and Reprobates-R-Us because they are poster children for moral relativism.

I accept the plea of committed, monogamous gay couples who desire the legal benefits of marriage. I would accept civil unions for them. But too many libertine gays demonstrate that “gay marriage” is just an in-your-straight-face demand for social equality. Since I am part of the majority part of the 95% of the straight population that does not have any conflicts with the present marriage laws, I can only say to the libertine gays: “screw you and the mule, little boy or gang of cross dressers you rode in on.”

Those who know me on this site, know that I am thoughtful and patient. But, darn it, you can only spread manure so far. Sooner than later even the densest person in the crowd knows when he is up to his chin in offal, that some clown in a wave making boat is a dangerous threat to the status quo.

Those who think that experienced gays “mentoring” emerging gays is a fine social construct need to rewrite Oliver Twist and clarify Fagin’s role with all those little boys.

But John, Jennings made it clear in his own statement, as I quoted above, that he WAS out at the time.

I had come to Concord from Moses Brown in search of a place where I could be more open about who I was. I wore a ring that symbolized my commitment to my partner, and students like Brewster started asking me what it meant. Confused, I went to the head to ask how I should respond. “Tell them it’s a gift from someone you love,” he said.

Toward the end of my first year, during the spring of 1988, Brewster appeared in my office in the tow of one of my advisees, a wonderful young woman to whom I had been “out” for a long time.

And really, what’s to understand? Student under the age of 18 tells you they are having sex with older man they met in a bus station restroom. Only in the gay community are any of those components ambiguous.

I’m seeing nothing more here than a liberal Obama supporter being made a convenient target because he gave stupid advice when he was 24, something I have no doubt I’m guilty of too. I certainly have no problems with taking down those Obama Administration officials and supporters who are true nutjobs, guilty off rank hypocrisy or corruption (helllllooooo ACORN), etc. Yet in this case I’m not seeing much here. Will it work? I believe it probably will eventually but this isn’t a bandwagon that has enough for me to be willing to jump on.

1) The law says anything under 18 needs to be reported. Jennings broke the law there.

2) The age of consent is (allegedly 16) is Tim advocating transporting the minor from the bathroom stall across lines to where it’s ‘legal’ is fine?

Again, your whole argument is based upon your assessment of the situation as “child molestation,” of which you have no proof

And Tim’s comments are, of course, even more bizarre. Jennings has repeatedly stated the kid was under 18 – either 15 or no more than 16 – in other words, A CHILD.

Tim, just curious: How do you feel about Roman Polanski? Do you believe his excuse, “She didn’t look 13″ – when there are court transcripts of Polanski admitting that he did know the girl was 13 when he rape-molested her?

If the gay community adopted a zero tolerance policy about older men having sex with minors… the harm of that would be what, exactly? Even supposing there are minors who want to have sex with older men, the harm in telling them to wait until they’re at least 18 is… what, exactly?

I find this entire discussion (not meaning to single you out, V) senseless.

1) In reality, there is no “gay community”, any more than there is a “white community”, “male community” or any other type of “community”. People like to speak as if there is. But in reality, communities don’t decide things. Individuals do. Communities don’t act. Individuals do. Communities are but mathematical aggregations of individuals; they are not entities that exist or act on their own. Even an election is only a formal process of counting individual votes. Even the passage and/or enforcement of a law rests entirely on individuals to make it happen. The fact that many individuals may be involved in a large project or chain does not alter the fact that individuals are the entities involved, who did things. When we speak of some community doing or not doing this or that, we are speaking metaphorically, and probably wrongly.

2) I, and the majority of gays I know, already have “adopted a zero tolerance policy about older men having sex with minors.”

Exactly, V the K.

Did anyone ever die from *not* having sex?

No, while a lot of people have died from having sex. However, sex, like many other things, is a want for most people, and a pretty powerful one at that. In fact, it seems to be hardwired (or whatever you call it) into our being. The key is to channel it in such a way that it is healthful and helpful, not destructive. I obviously encourage those to wait to have sex until the right time. And I respect those who have chosen to never have sex. But just as I believe that a person should not have sex for the wrong reason, I also believe that a person should not be celibate for the wrong reasons as well. As for me personally, I would have done just fine if I never had sex. But I would have regretted for not having had the experience at least one time.

Thanks, ILC. That’s what I meant. In all honesty, I thought it was clear.

NDT, the first two links are a good start. About a million or so to go, and you will have proved your point. As for the third link, who knows? The advocates claim that it is not about sex, while the anti-gay opponents claim it is.

‘You know, I hope you knew to use a condom.’”

So let’s see:
1) Jennings unequivocally states that this was a school night, not a weekend.
2) Jennings unequivocally states that this individual was 15 years old.
3) Jennings unequivocally states that this child needed to use a condom.

For the first two points, there is a clear discrepancy as to the events of 21 years ago. Obviously, both accounts (of the age and day of the week) can’t both be correct.

As for the third point, that’s not the way I read it. The sex already took place. It’s more than bad enough it happened in the first place. It would have been even worse if, in addition, Brewster did not protect himself.

NDT, if that’s what this is all about I would agree with you. But do you really think that’s what I meant? Especially when I have repeatedly stated in this thread and in the past that I don’t think children should have sex, and that an older person having sex with a child is criminal.

Why can’t a parent accept their child’s sexuality, straight or gay, and simply impart the same expectations on their gay child that they would on their straight child? Is that really too much to ask?

If your point is that parents disapprove of their gay children’s sexuality, because they believe their child is destined to have a life of sex, drugs, pedophilia, etc., then just say so. I’ll disagree with that point, but at least you wouldn’t be making up stuff that I didn’t say. And while that may be some parents’ motivation, the problem is that still too many would disapprove of their child’s “lifestyle” even when their (now) adult child is in a monogamous relationship. Heck, many even refuse to meet their child’s partner/spouse.

Let’s see, here’s Brewster’s testimony:

In 1988, I had taken a bus home for the weekend, and on the return trip met someone who was also gay. The next day, I had a conversation with Mr. Jennings about it.

Indeed. And how did Mr. Jennings report this conversation?

“I said, ‘What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?’ He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, ‘Well I met someone in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him.’ High school sophomore, 15 years old’ I looked at Brewster and said, ‘You know, I hope you knew to use a condom.’”

So let’s see:

1) Jennings unequivocally states that this was a school night, not a weekend.

2) Jennings unequivocally states that this individual was 15 years old.

3) Jennings unequivocally states that this child needed to use a condom.

All of which directly contradict the statement by “Brewster”, an unidentified individual reporting to Media Matters, a site purchased and paid for by the Obama administration and its supporters.

” Since I was of legal consent at the time, the fifteen-minute conversation I had with Mr. Jennings twenty-one years ago is of nobody’s concern but his and mine. However, since the Republican noise machine is so concerned about my “well-being” and that of America’s students, they’ll be relieved to know that I was not “inducted” into homosexuality, assaulted, raped, or sold into sexual slavery.

In 1988, I had taken a bus home for the weekend, and on the return trip met someone who was also gay. The next day, I had a conversation with Mr. Jennings about it. I had no sexual contact with anybody at the time, though I was entirely legally free to do so. I was a sixteen year-old going through something most of us have experienced: adolescence. I find it regrettable that the people who have the compassion and integrity to protect our nation’s students are themselves in need of protection from homophobic smear attacks. Were it not for Mr. Jennings’ courage and concern for my well-being at that time in my life, I doubt I’d be the proud gay man that I am today.

– Brewster
‘