For all those who believe that Louisiana is behind the times, that we're three--maybe four--steps behind every other state in the country, please note:
St. Bernard Parish Councilman Joey DiFatta, who on Thursday withdrew from the 1st Senate District campaign, has been stopped twice since 1996 for suspicion of engaging in lewd behavior in public restrooms in Jefferson Parish, records obtained by The Times-Picayune show.
-- more at NOLA.com
That's right, ladies and gentlemen: we've got ourselves a toe-tapping tearoom scandal just like the one on the evening news.
Two quick observations:
1. Our homegrown homosex conflamma may be even more noteworthy than the one taking place in Idaho since, unlike Senator Craig (who'd probably be very comfortable among the non-homosexuals of Iran), DiFatta plainly admits he likes to get down with the mens. In other words, the issue isn't his penchant for knobgobbling, but rather DiFatta's fetish:
DiFatta also said he has a problem with such behavior and had sought counseling for the addiction in the past, the report states.
Which is remarkable language for the Picayune to use, since, well, it's the Picayune fer chrissakes! I don't even think they'll print the word "ass", yet here they are, talking about public sex between men as an outgrowth of sexual addiction. I mean, say what you want about New Orleans, but I doubt many other communities would deal with it like that.
2. On the other hand, as a gay man who's always been thoroughly aware of the tearoom phenomenon, I've thought that restroom hookups were an open secret among males of our species. In department stores, football stadiums, and gas stations across the country, gay men have gotten it on, and straight men have looked the other way. I'm sure it's not always been pleasant for the heteros, and I understand that such activity is explicitly illegal, but as long as it's consensual, to me it's a victimless crime.... And given that attitude, this may sound oddly prudish of me, but I'm not entirely sure that every schoolmarm in Peoria ought to know the minutiae of the deed and everything leading up to it.
It reminds me of that scene in Desperate Living where Mink Stole goes to the toilet and the aggro lesbian in the stall next to her keeps shoving her boobs through two chest-high gloryholes: complete absurdity. I mean, ladies, y'all don't do such things, do you? What's your equivalently open secret?
