Minnesota Rep. Drops Reelection Bid After Rest Stop Encounter
Kerry Gauthier, a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2001, has ended his reelection campaign after being caught having consensual and legal encounter with a 17-year old at a highway truck stop, largely due to pressure from his fellow Democrats.
Having admitted the encounter, and facing no criminal charges at the moment, Gauthier said his self-denial led to his "mistake."
"I am sorry for the hurt this has caused my family, friends and my constituents. I know I made a mistake and am determined to make amends as best I can," he said.
Gauthier [said] his unwillingness to accept he is gay led him to the act. He said he is getting counseling. He also said he feels badly for the teen and wouldn’t talk specifically about the incident to protect the boy.
"I can change my behavior, but I cannot change the fact that I am a gay man, and have known this since my college days. I simply must act like a mature gay man would act, and not as the incident portrays me."
Governor Mark Dayton said pressure on Gauthier to step aside wasn't about the same-sex aspect of his tryst, procured with a Craigslist ad, but was about "morals".
"I think it’s just something that goes beyond the morals of Minnesotans - to solicit on Craigslist sex with a minor and do it in a public area, publicly owned area, as a state legislator, and come back to the parking lot with his clothes disheveled," he said, according to EDGE. "It’s not about whether it’s a same-sex or a heterosexual act. It would be the same if it were the same circumstances involving a heterosexual individual."
I'd be more interested in finding out what his voting record was on gay issues. I have a hard time believing that so many would have called for his resignation due to his lack of "morals" if he'd been found with a young woman.
Posted by: Gigi | Aug 23, 2012 9:48:37 AM
So is the narrative here that Democrats don't like gay guys?
Posted by: jason | Aug 23, 2012 9:52:18 AM
Good.
I have no patience with closested politicians, regardless of party.
Either have the balls to stand up and be yourself or don't run for office.
Frankly, just because sex between the two was legal doesn't change the fact that this man has done serious damage to us Democrats. We so do not need people like this in our party. Leave such jerks to the Rethugs.
Posted by: enough already | Aug 23, 2012 9:56:11 AM
According to the NY Daily News, Gauthier, a first-term legislator, IS gay. http://tinyurl.com/cqy4vq5
That he was so flagrant, in public, is the issue here, not the fact that he's gay. And you can bet that the NOM-bots and talibangelists will hop all over this.
Posted by: robert | Aug 23, 2012 10:15:06 AM
The last paragraph incorrectly states that he solicited sex with a minor. To be fair, he did not. The age of consent there is 16 and the youth was 17 at the time of the encounter.
Posted by: GRENDEL | Aug 23, 2012 10:27:43 AM
I'm probably in the minority here, but if he wasn't married, didn't have children, and wasn't with someone under the age of consent, what's the problem? The reason we have consent laws is to distinguish when someone is "too young." I understand the pressure from party leaders, but I sincerely hope this doesn't lead him into any more self-hatred. He's done nothing to deserve it.
Posted by: Stefan | Aug 23, 2012 10:43:43 AM
The age of his partner is the issue here, even though he may have been over the age of consent. Lots of folks don't want older people messing around with teenagers; there's still a stigma attached.
Posted by: Jack M | Aug 23, 2012 10:46:45 AM
Chris, I'm not sure what "almost encounter" you're talking about. McGreevey was governor already, had a same-sex affair with a staff member and then resigned.
Posted by: BEAHBEAH | Aug 23, 2012 11:05:19 AM
@Stefan The "issue" is that it is considered cheesy for anyone in the mainstream of society to run a sex ad (on Craigslist or anywhere else)--(a)--and (b) to have sex in a public place. Precisely why I suggested recently that nobody of any stature in society is going to put their photo on Grindr or any other such app.
Illegal? No. Scuzzy? Yes.
Admittedly, this will go over the heads of the vast majority of gay men, who simply do not understand that there are standards of behavior in society that exist for a reason and that one cannot just do whatever suits onesself as long as nobody was "hurt" by it.
Having lived outside the social mainstream for so long has made so many gay men oblivious to the standards of propriety.....and this has been exacerbated by the recent adoption of an ideology of absolute non-conformity typified by the "just be who you are" mantra that is regularly thrown around on this site, usually as it relates to effeminate behavior or dress.
We have an opportunity to be accepted into the social mainstream, but if we continue acting as though we don't belong there, we won't be......
Posted by: Rick | Aug 23, 2012 11:16:06 AM
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but what is there about having sex in places like truck stops and rest areas and parks that is not indicative of some sort of degree of mental illness ?
Yeah, I know; you do it for the thrill of the risk of getting caught, and then cry when you eventually DO get caught. Please keep proving my point.
Get help. We don't need the crap this brings down on the rest of us, we don't need you spreading STD's, we don't need you being held up as representative of the rest of us.
Just get some therapy. It's the best investment many gay men can make in themselves, and in their future.
Posted by: "The Gay" | Aug 23, 2012 11:37:47 AM
"I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but what is there about having sex in places like truck stops and rest areas and parks that is not indicative of some sort of degree of mental illness ?"
I just love the way some of you defend the most bizarre behavior one witnesses among some gay men as perfectly "normal" (e.g. living vicariously through women and idolizing them and even dressing like them and acting like them) and seem to believe in absolute non-conformity to societal rules (including "gender-non-conformity").....in addition to being promiscuous due to your having severe difficulty forming healthy relationships with other men (which is related to the above tendencies)
......and then turn around and classify the behavior of anybody who does not fit your political goals as a form of "mental illness" or as being an indicator that they are "self-loathing".
So what is YOUR point? That one should never have sex outdoors? That having sex outdoors is a form of "mental illness", but kissing some stranger passionately that you just met on the Internet and then discarding him after sex, never to have anything to do with him again is somehow an indicator of emotional health?
Posted by: Rick | Aug 23, 2012 11:50:09 AM
Are we seriously debating whether it's wrong for some fat, ugly old closet case should resign from public office after having sex with a 17 year old boy in a rest stop???!! Sometimes I feel sorry for us...rationalizing with "well he turned 17 the day before so technically there's nothing wrong,,blah blah" is gross. So many gay men are so lost it's terrifying...it's wrong and he should go. This is why we are not in charge....and likely won't be for quite some time.
Posted by: Marlee | Aug 23, 2012 12:27:04 PM
Personally, I think what he did was gross, but I don't think it is grounds for resignation (just like I don't think straight, married politicians should resign from office for cheating on their wives). Let the voters decide. Is he skeezy? I think so, but since he didn't break any laws he shouldn't be forced to resign as if he did.
Posted by: Mark | Aug 23, 2012 12:43:20 PM
"Are we seriously debating whether it's wrong for some fat, ugly old closet case should resign from public office after having sex with a 17 year old boy in a rest stop???!! Sometimes I feel sorry for us...rationalizing with "well he turned 17 the day before so technically there's nothing wrong,,blah blah" is gross"
In all honesty, you sound more like you are jealous than "morally righteous".
17-year-olds are perfectly capable of deciding who they want to have sex with and if this guy was able to convince one to do so with him, good for him. (Related to that, all the ancient Greeks that gay activists claim as being "gay" were having sex with teen boys several decades their junior).
That is not the issue, really, nor is having sex in the outdoors.
It is really about understanding that, if you are a public figure, certain standards of propriety are expected of you that are not expected of average people. You are expected to be discreet in whatever you do. His mistake was in not excersizing enough such discretion, not in having sex with someone much younger than he was or even having sex out of doors.
Posted by: Rick | Aug 23, 2012 1:01:28 PM
Um, I am surprised no one has pointed this out but for a 50 something year old out of shape man to hook up with a 17yo some money would have had to been exchanged.
Posted by: Michael | Aug 23, 2012 1:03:58 PM
ew, so Rick is a boylover on top of being a closeted self-hating freak? great.
i'm 30. i wouldn't date, nor hook-up, with anyone younger than 25. why? because i f***ing remember what it's like to be that age, and all the nonsense that comes with it.
17? barf.
but hey ,comments here are revealing. Rick hates fems, hates being gay, is a terrified cowardly closet-case, and wants to have sex with teenagers.
um, yay?
Posted by: LittleKiwi | Aug 23, 2012 1:12:55 PM
It is the same thing as Bill Clinton having sex with young female interns. Of course he didn't have to resign because he is Bill Clinton.
Posted by: simon | Aug 23, 2012 1:17:56 PM
Kiwi, Rick has admitted that he goes on sex tours to Muslim countries looking for "sex-starved" young guys to prey on (ie service/bottom for)..he hates fems/women because, like I said, he plays the role of the women on these sex tours..and he hates admitting it...he's well over 50 and ugly..all of this from is own mouth...he's gross....so of course he has no problem with other closet case old queens lusting after young guys and doing them in seedy places...he's one himself...again, all of this from his own mouth...the epitome of the "wretched" homosexual we all fear becoming...
Posted by: Marlee | Aug 23, 2012 1:18:28 PM
This is fair treatment. Democrats have asked a number of married people who have had affairs to step down.
Posted by: Icebloo | Aug 23, 2012 1:20:22 PM
what's that, Simon? President Clinton was having sexual encounters with those too young to vote? Really? Can you back that up?
;-)
Posted by: LittleKiwi | Aug 23, 2012 1:24:08 PM
Um, let's not blow minors at rest stops and be a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives....and say we did?
We need to get it together.
Posted by: Jake Orlando | Aug 23, 2012 1:32:23 PM
LittleKiwi :
Voting age is not a legal criterion for having sex. Age of consent is. If you are talking about morality, it may be more "immoral" to cheat on one's wife. Of course the article here didn't say if the guy is married.
Posted by: simon | Aug 23, 2012 1:37:20 PM
you show me a grown adult who rationalizes having sex with a 17 year old and I'll show you someone about to make their debut on meganslaw.com
Posted by: LittleKiwi | Aug 23, 2012 1:45:47 PM
@MARLEE: because no hetero guy wouldn't give their left testicle to hump on an 17 year old chick? No, that would NEVER happen!
Posted by: OK | Aug 23, 2012 1:56:07 PM
In fact, I think there is a whole cottage industry of videos on just that subject!
Posted by: OK | Aug 23, 2012 1:59:56 PM