Larry Craig’s sexuality a ‘holy grail’ in Idaho

The Bible Belt Blogger has a personal account of being a cub reporter covering the Idaho senator at the center of today’s GOP sex scandal:

Rumors had been around for years that [Larry] Craig was gay. And some Idaho journalists were eager to find out if the rumors were true—and print them.

Because Craig had voted against “gay rights’ legislation, some reporters considered his sexual orientation to be fair game. I felt like Sen. Craig’s sex life should be off-limits—as long as he obeyed the law.

As I recall, during the 1996 campaign I was instructed to ask Sen. Craig about the rumors that he was gay. I asked as discretely as possible—during a lengthy interview when there weren’t plenty of people eavesdropping. I think I apologized for having to broach the subject. He denied the allegations. I felt sleazy even raising the topic.

That was the end of the matter for me, but other reporters continued digging—off and on for over a decade. It was like the Holy Grail of Idaho journalism—to figure out Larry Craig’s sexual proclivities.