When we espouse the same heterosexual standards once used against us, we become nothing more than homosexual fundamentalists

It is not my intent to defend the actions of Shannon Bailey, nor to defend him against his accusers. It is also not my intent to challenge the decision of the executive board of Texas Stonewall Democrats to ask him to resign. They certainly have the right to make those decisions without my counsel.

What I want to do is remind our community of the great danger in forgetting our queer heritage and simply accepting the assumptions of the majority culture in which we live.

The revelations about U.S. Sen. Larry Craig left me struggling to figure out exactly how I felt about it all. His opposition to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people long ago cost him any sympathy from me. However, there is great danger in our community supporting his arrest and destruction for nothing more than tapping his foot and, perhaps, touching his shoe to an undercover police officer's foot.

Surely to God there are greater dangers that should concern law enforcement in this country.

Now, was Craig guilty of hypocrisy? Oh, yeah. But unfortunately, that is not a criminal offense. Was he guilty of attempting to violate his wedding vows? Most likely, but that is between him and his wife. Does he deserve to be defeated by the voters? Well, I think they should have kicked him out long ago because of the political values he espouses.

What our community must avoid is supporting the criminalization of actions that do no harm to society's well-being.

Would Craig have been arrested had he been in a bar, or, for that matter, the airport terminal, and tapped a woman on the arm with sexual intent? Would he have been expected to resign?

Apparently not, since Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana was not pressured to resign despite a record of consorting with prostitutes while defending traditional marriage.

Would Shannon Bailey have been arrested if he had been having sex with a woman at White Rock Lake? If he was, would he have been stripped of his volunteer responsibilities?

Actually, I do not know the answers to those questions. But I do want to caution our community against simply assimilating the sex-negative attitudes of our fundamentalist sisters and brothers.

Increasingly, I see our community espousing heterosexist standards for lesbian and gay relationships and behaviors. Ultimately, those standards may be right for some of us, but it would be our own expression of hypocrisy to seek to impose our sexual standards on others.

How long have we been told that the only acceptable form of sexual
expression is between one man and one woman in the sanctity of marriage? We reject that judgment, as well we should.

What we need to avoid is becoming homosexual fundamentalists sitting in moral judgment on those who don't meet standards dictated for us by the heterosexual majority.

We also must purge from our consciousness the compulsive need for the approval of the majority.

All our lives, we have subconsciously longed for our parents' approval, but we are adults now. If the hetero majority doesn't approve of us and our behavior, then that is their problem.

Emotionally mature adults make their own decisions based on what is good for them and for the larger society. Although I am not an advocate for public sex, I do hope we will keep it in some reasonable perspective and will defend the rights of consenting adults to live in ways that don't harm others.

Kick Larry Craig out of office because he advocates fundamentalist values that harm the LGBT citizens of Idaho. Remove Shannon Bailey if he is not doing a good job, or if he has done something that harmed another person.

However, take great care when judging another for their sexual behavior. Remember that not so long ago the most law-abiding among us committed criminal acts every time we made love to our spouse.

The difference is less stark than you might think.

The Rev. Michael Piazza is president of Hope for Peace & Justice, a nonprofit ministry of the Cathedral of Hope, that is equipping progressive people of faith to be champions for peace and justice.



This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 7, 2007