The Gist

The Silly Season is Upon Us

I rarely link to Andrew Sullivan's blog but hey, he's not there, and a post by one of his substitutes is so silly it warrants discussion.

Jamie Kirchick, paying homage to Sully, claims the Larry Craig scandal underscores something he calls "the old gay culture vs. the new gay culture." Basically, his argument is that anonymous sex, a la Craig's bathroom trolling, is over, while the new gay culture -- articulated by Sullivan in his various promotions of gay marriage and gay coupling --has arrived and rejects all of that anonymous action. (Sullivan himself is away because he is getting married.)

Now, I don't deny that Craig is a pathetic throwback and certainly doesn't represent younger generations of openly gay people. But Kirchick has either been drinking too much of the Sully kool-aid or he's led an incredibly sheltered life at The New Republic, where he works and where Sully of course once was the editor. Whether or not tearoom sex is up or down -- and some could argue that the Internet has helped it thrive, with sites like CruisingForSex, listing the places men can go for sex in public rest room and parks -- anonymous sex is alive and well, and bigger than ever. And one only has to ask Andrew Sullivan himself about that!

New mega-bathhouses and sex clubs are thriving in cities across the country (one in Cleveland, smack in the middle of America's heartland, boasts that it is the largest in the country, complete with a rooftop beach). Meanwhile, Internet sites from Manhunt to Gay.com have helped anonymous sex (now called NSA, for "no strings action")to explode all over the web, including sites on which people look for anonymous "bareback" sex, just like the sites that Sullivan himself was exposed for having posted on, under the name RawMuscleGlutes. (Oh yes, that sounds like the "new gay culture" alright).

I make no judgement here about anonymous sex, as long as it's safe, but the idea that it is ending -- with Sully leading the way -- and that the age of marriage equality is causing it to happen is pretty preposterous. The Internet and the banning of laws against gay sex have likely only made anonymous sex among men more available and prevalent. In fact, Sullivan himself last year argued that non-monogamy for gay couples is "perfectly acceptable" on occasion. Gee, like an occasional men's room tryst? Sounds like the "old gay culture" to me, Jamie. Not that there's anything wrong with that.