We were pretty giddy about the Larry Craig scandal yesterday. Then we started watching the coverage, which has rapidly degenerated into a smug homophobia-fest. The worst so far: on MSNBC, Tucker Carlson bragged that when a man hit on him in a bathroom in Georgetown, he went back with a friend and "grabbed him . . . and hit him against the stall with his head."
Then Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough laughed.
The gleeful back-slapping over Tucker's attack starts at 2:47. The relevant part of the above YouTube clip is also excerpted here on Gawker.
Last time we checked, beating up a gay man for propositioning you was a crime -- a hate crime, even.
Don Imus got in trouble for letting his disdain for black women slip out. Shouldn't Carlson get in at least as much trouble for revealing (with glee!) his past violence against a gay man?
UPDATE: Carlson has released the following statement:
"Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.
"Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me."
UPDATE UPDATE: GLADD is asking for an apology from Carlson and MSNBC
Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 7)
76. Gosh, I wish that I was as attractive as Tucker "Dancing with the Stars" Carlson and so dreamy that people must HAVE me in their wicked ways. Er, or not. ;)
Stus at 3:27PM on Aug 30th 2007
77. Can any one tell me what restroom this was in? Im feeling a little randy today.
David at 4:09PM on Aug 30th 2007
78. PIRO Demands Apology from Carlson and MSNBC:
by Mia Freak
Tye D. Bowl-Mann, spokesman for PIRO (Pedophiles In Restrooms Organization) has demanded that both Tucker Carlson and MSNBC apologize to Carlson's victim 20 years ago or PIRO will picket the studio's.
Juan A Youngin who was arrested 20 years ago for attacking Carlson in a restroom suffered contusions to his head when his two assailants rammed him into a shower stall.
"I was going about my daily business and never dreamed that a guy wearing a bow tie would only be a teenager. Doesn't really matter what I was doing a guy has a right to use a public restroom. Perfectly normal to be there for hours. It's a free country ain't it."
Since the advent of the internet PIRO has seen a steady decline in membership as splinter group MOW (Molesters on the WEB) has raped PIRO of most of its group.
"We thank dedicated journalists like Ada Calhoun, Aol, and GLAAD in defending our right to exist in society without persecution. We welcome Ada to be our Grand Marshall in this years Pedophiles on Parade which takes in most public restrooms on %th Ave in Manhatten" Responded Tye D. "Gays have come out of the closet and thats great, we just want to stay inside but that dream has been stalled"
Yurin Null legal counsel for PIRO has set up a defense fund for Juan A Youngin, and is spearheading his drive to get rest-itution.
Contributions can be sent to:
PIRO
411 Fielding Ofers Highway
Flushing NY.
KTerceira at 4:19PM on Aug 30th 2007
79. So, women fend off men soliciting sex every day of there life’s in every imaginable situation ( except maybe the rest room) So are all the strait men in America also sleazy perverts that need there head smashed in???
JD at 10:36PM on Aug 30th 2007
80. I alway thought Carson was one of those new "gay republicans" Self lothing men who hate what they are and defame anyone who is like him, instead of accepting themselfs and living a happy life. All the girls at the gym can't be wrong!!!
JD at 10:38PM on Aug 30th 2007
81. What a stupid bunch of guys yucking it up. Shows that any idiot can get on television these days.
spence147 at 4:09PM on Aug 31st 2007
82. Public bathroom crusing is a problem. It's a problem that cities create when they don't allow adult bookstores and movie houses.
Kitty at 10:30AM on Sep 1st 2007
83. Hi, I'm gay and I think it is wrong for people to try to call this a "gay bashing" or a "hate crime".
If a female friend of mine was physically grabbed in an inappropriate sexual advance (that would make it a sexual assault by the way) by a man I would do my best to apprehend that person so that they could be arrested once police authorities arrived.
That seems to be what happened here, and the only difference was that both the people involved were male.
That is totally different to when homophobic slime invoke the so called "gay panic" defense to get reduced jail time when they bash or kill gay men who they claim have propositioned them by pleading to the court that their disgust left them temporarily insane and unable to control their actions (despite often having robbed the victim as well). Totally different!
If someone propositions you inappropriately, you have the right to tell them to go screw themselves and leave you alone. Despite how rude they have been you don't have the right to assault them in response.
But the law says that people who are being assaulted or who have placed a person under a citizen's arrest are allowed to use "due" or appropriate force to halt the assault or hold that person until police arrive.
More force than that and it becomes a crime.
And by the way, gay bashers don't hang around for the police to show up after they've committed a crime- they run.
That being said, the manner in which Tucker Carlson brought it up was kind of inappropriate, but that just makes him an idiot, not a homophobe.
Andy at 7:54PM on Sep 2nd 2007
84. Gay guy again-
PS- just because Tucker isn't guilty of gay bashing and some left wing people have made some stupid comments about this incident, doesn't mean the stupid comments made by some of the right wing idiots in this comments section aren't homophobic garbage as well.
Newsflash for the guy who made the revolting comment blaming AIDS on gay men and then brought God into it- straight people spread STDs too- there are some STDs you can only get from straight sex, so what was God trying to tell us there?
Straight people, gay people- no better than each other, no worse. And all points of the political compass have their equal share of idiots.
There are Rightwingers who make the Right look stupid and there are Leftwingers who make the Left look stupid and unfortunately they generally shout louder than everyone else.
Andy at 7:56PM on Sep 2nd 2007
85. Someday Carlson Tucker will probably be outted.
Randy at 4:05PM on Sep 1st 2007
86. {Ok, I've tried to post this a few times before, and it didn't take, so apologies if this manifests more than once.}
I don't understand why any crime needs to be labeled a "hate" crime - aren't they *all* hate crimes? I don't care if the victim is black, white, Asian, Arab, male, female, tran, gay, straight, bi, or whatever: when someone is a victim of a crime, the criminal should be punished, period. My assumption is that in order to commit a crime, especially a violent one, you need to be filled with a certain amount of hate already. Giving certain factions in society more of a victim status because of some classifiable trait is stupid, and is not going to help smooth the lines of bias and discrimination in this country. All crime is a symptom of hate, to one degree or another.
More to the point of this particular case, and someone please explain this to me: An uninterested straight man has a right to assault another man for hitting on him since it's an unwanted advance, even if he has to return to the scene of the "crime" with a posse to defend himself? So do I then, as a straight woman, have a right to assault any straight man who hits on me too, just because I'm not interested? Stupid reasoning. It's flattering to be hit on by someone, even if I don't reciprocate the sentiment, or even share in their sexual orientation (i.e. I don't care if I don't find the person attractive, or if it's another chick - compliment taken, and no thank you). Maybe these men who feel it's ok to assault someone who makes a homosexual advance are uncomfortable with their own sexuality? Doesn't matter why - it's still a crime to assault another person.
By the way: what's with this strange double-standard on human sexual maturity? When a teen is involved with an adult of either gender, everyone is so quick to scream "pedophile!" even in cases where the sexual relationship is consensual, and yet these are the same people screaming for better sex ed classes and more access to birth control for children - so are kids allowed to make sexual decisions for themselves or not? I'm not saying that this applies to this particular scenario, but it's some food for thought. Either children should not have sex, or they should, and the age of their prospective partner cannot be used to determine the answer. You can't have it both ways.
Back to the Carlson situation: if the man making the advance did make inappropriate contact, a line was crossed, but there was no indication in the video that this was the case. Even if there was contact, I still don't see a justification for violence. I don't care what age a person is: we've all been told that alerting a cop is a better solution than vigilante justice, and whether we each personally agree with that or not, the law says we are not allowed to act as judge and jury. If this man was a dangerous bathroom prowler (as it would seem, since he was still in the bathroom when Carlson came back later), Carlson should have strongly voiced his displeasure with the situation (NO!), left the bathroom, notified the nearest authority or security person, and left it for the law to deal with. There's a big difference between a neighborhood watch and a torch-carrying, pitchfork-wielding, blood-thirsty mob.
As for the whole bathroom thing: so we teach our children that undue violence is a perfectly acceptable substitute for good judgment and proper awareness of one's surroundings? My mother taught me not to get into an elevator if I would be the only woman with any number of men, especially during off-peak times. A bit paranoid, but still good advice. Avoiding circumstances in which negative situations can occur helps prevent negative situations. Parents just need to be more responsible for their children at young ages and stop expecting the rest of the world to be responsible in their stead. My mother never sent me into a public bathroom alone, and if I was with my father, he had no problem asking a passing woman to check on me to make sure I was ok, if I took too long.
If you're an adult male and you walk into a bathroom where some guy is just hanging out, especially if he talks to you in an inappropriate manner - ignore him or decline, then leave! Or you guys can start doing what we females have done for decades and "go in groups" - get over your self-homo-phobia and take a buddy with you. Even if someone was interested, there's a degree of safety in numbers, and he probably won't try to approach you. Or maybe he'll think you're already "with" someone and leave you alone ;)
lin at 8:03PM on Sep 1st 2007
87. i've been propositioned in a men's room. i didn't feel as if i were being molested. i did, however, feel my right to privacy was invaded. that annoyed me. and the guy's brazenness. it was not that he might have been gay that was the problem; rather,it was his extraordinary bad manners,his persumptiveness and egocentric assertiveness. i was embarrassed for him! he was tall,athletic,young; in no way did he match my cliched image of what i assumed was a typical gay man. therefore his advance stunned me.
i don't believe carlson tucker can be branded a gay basher! though he may have been a bit too pro-active in countering the guy's advances, his response could be considered typical for a teen with a wing man in tow. it's one of those reactions i would have to acquiesce to.
boredwell at 1:47AM on Sep 2nd 2007
88. '"Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack....'"
So if it was not about gays and gay bashing... then why the hell did Carlson mention it to begin with? What did it have to do with the story they were there to discuss? They weren't discussing sexual molestation when Carlson first mentioned his "men's room experience".
Also, if he felt truly threatened by the incident, he should have reported it immediately to police. Instead, like an angry homophobic vigilante, he went back almost a half hour later with a friend. Why?
He should keep his apology. I'd like to see him fired. He's lost credibility... and the other two giggling idiots should be shown the door, as well.
Margie Forester at 2:25AM on Sep 28th 2007
89. What I find so humorous is Men who are HIT ON by another man, Be it in a lavatory, bar, or on the street. Proclaim a right to injure detain or worse. Why is it such a hard thing to say No thank you i am not gay, but thank you for finding me attractive and then move on ??? If women were allowed to Injure or kill Men for each time there hit on by Men .. the world would be a very Amazonian world. Or is it the males might find the prospect of being overtly concidered desireable by another man, that they dont trust their innerself to say no. Like most homophobic people Me thinks they Protest far to much to cover there subconcious fears that have been ingrained by social teaching of the teachers who wear the robes of the clergy. And who never marry or have children. They who ingrain the fear of giving into or accepting being comphortable in ones own skin.... So fear of inablity to say no to sexual advances gives men the right to bash men who make a pass.... be thankful women dont have the same rights to beat a man to death out of panic fear from him saying " i find you very attractive " LOL fear and cowards all men be who react with violence to advances...
Ana at 6:58AM on Sep 3rd 2007
90. I've thought about this some more and I still can't say that I would absolutely not hit the guy. I like to use the "Mike Tyson" approach to self defense. What I do is ask myself if I would still hit the person involved if he were Mike Tyson. It could really be anyone, you could call it the Bruce Lee system or whatever. The theory behind it is this. Would you hit this person if you knew that it would result in the crap getting kicked out of you? Having said that, I still think that depending on the circumstances, I still might have hit the guy. Of course that would depend completely on how physically threatened I felt.
David at 12:47AM on Sep 4th 2007