Senator in sex scandal

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig this week insisted he had never sought sex with a man, despite pleading guilty to charges related to soliciting sex in a public men’s room. “I’m not gay,’’ Craig said. Roll Call reported this week that Craig pleaded guilty in a Bloomington, Minn., court Aug. 8 to disorderly conduct, after being arrested in a men’s room at the Minneapolis airport. Craig and an undercover officer were in adjoining toilet stalls, police say, when Craig signaled sexual interest by tapping his foot and sliding his hand under the partition. Craig claims that the police misconstrued his actions and that he entered his guilty plea without consulting a lawyer because he was hoping the case would “go away.” In the past, Craig vehemently denied published reports quoting several men who said they’d had sex with Craig in bathrooms or been solicited by him. A staunch conservative, Craig supports amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and opposed a bill that would bar job discrimination based on sexuality.