REPORT: Gay US Soldiers In Afghanistan Are Using Craigslist For Hook-Ups

The wingnut-o-sphere is outraged about an Army Times report that gay US soldiers deployed to Afghanistan are using Craigslist to hook up with each other.  Military investigators are busting those caught.

Agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Afghanistan are tracking service members who are hooking up in the war zone via Internet sites such as Craigslist and busting those who violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice. And in Afghanistan, where commanders haveforbid any sexual encounters between unwed people, virtually anyone who tries to set up a meeting online can become a target of investigators. One Marine lance corporal found that out in 2012, after he posted an advertisement on Craigslist for a sexual rendezvous. The guy he met at Camp Leatherneck, whom he thought was also looking to hook up, turned out to be an undercover agent with the NCIS. Sexual activities in a war zone are as old as wars themselves, but with the advent of Internet personal ads and social media sites, arranging a sexual encounter can become brazen, public and risky. Warnings from commanders, standard guidance for any unit headed to the war zone, appear to have fallen on deaf ears in many cases.

Britain's Daily Mail tabloid has posted lurid screencaps from several of the Craigslist postings.  Here's what could happen to those caught:

Online sex solicitation is technically not a crime under the UCMJ. However, commanders have the right to enact regulations that make it a punishable offense. “Soliciting for sex on community-oriented websites such as Craigslist is not per se a chargeable offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” wrote Erin Stattel, a press officer for International Security Assistance Force headquarters, in response to emailed questions from Marine Corps Times. “However, posting pornographic images on a public web or social media site is a chargeable offense. Excerpt: General Order 1.15.f states ‘creation or display of any pornographic or sexually explicit photograph ... is prohibited.'" Other chargeable offenses under the UCMJ include adultery, prostitution and pandering, which violate General Article 134. But commanders downrange are also prosecuting service members, on a case-by-case basis, under a different section of General Article 134 that bans conduct “to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces.”

A spokesman for the NCIS refused to say if investigators are entrapping soldiers by posting ads themselves.

Long Island Cops Use Village Voice Site To Stage Massive Prostitution Sting

Using the Village Voice's Backpage.com site, cops in Nassau County lured in 104 men with prostitution offers from undercover male and female officers. The arrested men range in age from 17 to 79.

More than 100 johns — lawyers and doctors among them — were named and shamed in an aggressive Nassau County sting after soliciting sex from cops posing as prostitutes. The arrests were announced Monday after a month-long investigation dubbed “Operation Flush the Johns.” Not only did the 104 busts send shockwaves through marriages, law firms and medical offices, they also sent a strong message from law enforcement that people who pay for sex will be treated like common criminals in Nassau County. “This whole concept of looking at johns as victims — they’re not victims!” explained Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice. “They’re further exploiting and victimizing trafficked women and men.”

One of the ads for a male prostitute claimed that "Dylan" is a "down to earth guy who has a secret wild side."  A lawyer for one of the arrested men denounced the Nassau County prosecutor for creating the above poster with the faces and names of those charged: "To put out a poster to humiliate these men and their families is outrageous. It was nothing short of outrageous for the prosecutor to try to humiliate these men." 

And following that quote, the Daily News posted its own embedded scrollable list of the names, ages, and home towns of those arrested.  The majority of the commenters on the above-linked article are outraged.

RELATED: After losing major advertisers, last year Village Voice Media legally separated itself from Backpage.com, which has long been the target of state attorneys general and religious groups. According to Wikipedia, Backpage.com is now owned by two major Voice shareholders.

Larry Craig Drops Appeal, Minneapolis Int'l Beefs Up T-Room Security

Totally not-gay former Sen. Larry Craig has dropped his appeal of his already-pleaded-guilty restroom trolling charge.

A lawyer for former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig says they won't ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to void his conviction in an airport bathroom sex sting. Minneapolis attorney Tom Kelly said today they concluded that the state Supreme Court would not accept a petition for further review of the case, so it would be a futile exercise. He says that means the legal wrangling in the case is over. Today was the 30-day deadline for Craig to ask the high court to review a Minnesota Court of Appeals decision that went against him.

It was a bullshit charge that he should have never copped to in the first place.

Cincinnati Christian University Official Entrapped And Busted For Gay Sex

A gay sex sting in Ohio resulted in the arrest of the CFO of Cincinnati Christian University.

Cincinnati Christian University’s chief financial officer entered a written plea of not guilty Monday after he was arrested Saturday in Mount Airy Forest and charged with sexual imposition. Robert Williams, 52, of Independence, was arrested at 9:23 a.m., accused of getting into a man’s car and touching his genitals. The man was an undercover officer. The university placed Williams on administrative leave while officials there assess the facts of the case, according to a statement from the university. “We are shocked and dismayed by the news,” Cincinnati Christian University President David Faust said in the statement. “This is a personal tragedy for him and for his family, and we lift them up in our prayers.”

These stings are wrong, wrong, wrong - even when the victims run Christian colleges.

NYPD Entrapping Gay Men At Adult Shops

Duncan Osbourne at Gay City News reports on the NYPD's entrapment of gay men patronizing NYC's adult bookstores. One example of how their trap works:

Robert Pinter was looking for a DVD and perhaps a good time when he visited Blue Door Video on First Avenue in the East Village. He was approached by an attractive young Asian-American man. "He is smiling, he's really a cute guy, very friendly," said Pinter, 52. "He initiated the conversation and drove the whole conversation."

Pinter said they agreed to have sex and the young man, who told Pinter he was 29, suggested they leave the shop and go to his car, which was parked outside. As they were exiting, the young man, who never told Pinter his name, mentioned money for the first time.

"He sort of threw in 'Oh, I want to pay you $50 to suck your dick,'" Pinter said. "When he offered me the money my first thought was he wanted me to pay him the money. When I realized that it wasn't that way, I thought it wasn't logical." Pinter said nothing in response and continued walking with the young man. Once outside, they were surrounded by a group of men who Pinter soon learned were police.

"At first I thought it was a gang because they didn't say anything, they didn't identify themselves as police," Pinter said. "They took my bag, started going through my possessions. I must have asked them four or five times, 'Why are you putting me under arrest?'"

Pinter, who has no prior arrests, was charged with prostitution. He was held handcuffed in a van for hours while officers made additional arrests around Manhattan, then photographed and fingerprinted at a Lower East Side police precinct, and finally arraigned on October 11, roughly 24 hours after his arrest, in the criminal courts downtown.

According to Osbourne, police have arrested numerous men at adult bookstores by claiming they were engaging in prostitution. Most of the men have pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in order to make the charges go away. So basically, all you have to do is agree to leave with someone and the police can make up anything they want.

Lawsuit In Tenn. Public Sex Sting Case

Lambda Legal has filed a federal lawsuit against the police department of Johnson City, Tennessee and its chief of police for releasing the photos of 40 men arrested in a sex sting in a public park. The suit was filed on behalf of Kenneth Giles, a nurse who was fired from his job after his picture appeared in the local paper.

"In America, the police do not get to add an extra punishment to people they don't like," said Greg Nevins, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. "They also do not get to ignore the principle of innocent until proven guilty. The JCPD went out of its way to humiliate Mr. Giles and caused irreparable damage."

On October 1, 2007 the JCPD issued a press release, personally approved by the police chief, that included photos that were taken at the scene where 40 men, including Mr. Giles, were arrested in a public sex sting. The local news ran the story prominently along with the pictures and addresses of the men involved. Lambda Legal reviewed the police department's press releases for over a period of a year and found that out of approximately 600 other releases, none pertaining to arrests was accompanied by photos or personally approved by the chief. Of the 40 arrested, one man has committed suicide, and several others have lost their jobs, including Kenneth Giles, who was fired from his job as a nurse at the VA hospital.

"I don't understand how the police department can release photos of one group and not any others," said Kenneth Giles. "I lost my livelihood because my arrest was treated differently."

Lambda Legal argues that the JCPD violated federal equal protection law by singling out these men for harsher treatment by making their images available to the media. Indeed, the actions of the JCPD are the latest in a long history of the police going beyond legitimate law enforcement measures to take extraordinary action designed to target gay men for humiliation and harassment.

Shortly after his photo was published, a 55 year-old man committed suicide.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Stinging Shame.

HomoQuotable - Rex Wockner

"I agree that Larry Craig was, at minimum, enticed. It takes two to tango. If the cop hadn't been sitting there peering back and playing footsie, Craig probably wouldn't have made the come-hither finger gesture. Instead, he likely would have left frustrated, caught his next flight and returned to the Senate to continue his 100 percent anti-gay voting record.

In the wake of Craig's inane drama, it seems obvious we should urge police departments to find better ways to spend our money. The era of what the British call "pretty policemen" entrapping horny men in toilets is long gone in Western Europe, and it should be relegated to the history books here too. Tearoom hanky-panky is a victimless "crime" that is only visible to those who are looking to find it." - Rex Wockner, in his Chicago Tribune debut.

Larry Craig: Still Guilty

In a 27-page decision, the judge reviewing Sen. Toe-Tapper's case has refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. Judge Charles Porter: "The defendant, a career politician with a college education, is of at least above-average intelligence. He knew what he was saying, reading and signing." Now let's see if Tearoom Larry decides to un-unresign.

UPDATE: Larry Craig responded to the judges ruling: "I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options. I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively. Over the course of my three terms in the Senate and five terms in the House, I have accumulated seniority and important committee assignments that are valuable to Idaho, not the least of which are my seats on the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. A replacement would be highly unlikely to obtain these posts. In addition, I will continue my effort to clear my name in the Senate Ethics Committee - something that is not possible if I am not serving in the Senate. When my term has expired, I will retire and not seek reelection. I hope this provides the certainty Idaho needs and deserves."

Great news for the Democrats! I can't wait to see the tshirts on the protesters at the 2008 GOP convention. The Craig-mocking commericals are already starting.

Stinging Shame

After a two-week-long police sex sting netted 40 men for having sex in two Johnson City, Tennessee parks, the Johnson City Press published the names, addresses and photos of all 40 men. Among the arrested was a Baptist minister, who has now resigned. According to the story, local cruisers had dubbed a section of one of the parks as the "man cave". [Photo]

From the comments on Free Republic: "Some of the ‘Christian’ women my wife works with were cackling about this; making fun of the queers, until one of them shot himself earlier today...now they “feel bad” for making fun of them. Funny how that works..."

Opinions on publishing these kinds of details? We certainly don't want the police arresting people without any public knowledge. But does the Johnson City Press publish the photos and addresses of straight people arrested for public sex? That's a hypothetical question, of course, since cops don't do straight sex stings. I think the Johnson City Press bears some responsibility for the suicide. Write Press reporter Kristin Swing at let her know how you feel: kswing@johnsoncitypress.com.
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Larry Craig Tries To Withdraw Guilty Plea

In a possible move towards unresigning his seat, today Sen. Larry "Tearoom" Craig's lawyer petitioned a Minneapolis court to withdraw his May guilty plea. Craig said he hoped the court would "allow me to prove my innocence." Switching gears from Craig's earlier "I panicked" defense, his lawyer argued that his client's mailed guilty plea denied him the opportunity to face a judge's inquiries, which would have made it clear that Craig denied soliciting for sex. If the judge does not accept the plea withdrawal, Craig faces poor odds if he appeals, as the Minnesota Appellate Court rarely overturns lower court verdicts. Craig did not attend today's hearing.

Let's wish Sen. Toe-Tapper luck. The GOP needs to have men like him. Or rather, we need the GOP to have men like him.