Craig calls blog’s claims ‘ridiculous’

Sen. Larry Craig on Tuesday called allegations from a gay-rights activist that he’s had homosexual relationships “completely ridiculous.”

Mike Rogers, who bills himself as the nation’s top gay activist blogger, BlogActive.com, published the allegations on his Internet site Tuesday. He repeated them on the Ed Schultz show, a syndicated liberal radio talk show.

Rogers refuses to name his sources but said he is confident from the information they provided him that the incidents of consensual sex with a male partner did occur.

“I have enough information and corroboration of my sources to protect myself,” Rogers told Schultz.

Craig, who is married, denied the allegations through his staff, saying they “have no basis in fact.” Sid Smith, spokesman for the Idaho Republican, said it would be hard to independently check Rogers’ sources, adding, “saying you have anonymous sources doesn’t seem very convincing to me.”

A lawsuit “isn’t out of the question,” but Craig hasn’t considered it at this point, Smith said. “That would be taking it a little more seriously than it deserves,” he added.

Rogers, who is also president of a gay-rights organization called Proud of Who We Are, said that while there is nothing wrong with being gay, Craig was being hypocritical for opposing gay rights and voting for laws that limit marriage to heterosexual couples.

“You can be gay and against same-sex marriage, but you should be honest and open,” Rogers said in a subsequent interview with The Spokesman-Review. “Why should the gay community protect an enemy of the community?”

Smith said the senator was campaigning Tuesday afternoon with Rep. Butch Otter, who is running for governor, and didn’t hear the broadcast. The Schultz show isn’t carried on any station in Idaho, but does reach some parts of the Panhandle from a Spokane station, KPTQ 1280 AM.

But his staff did contact Craig and told him about the contents of the Web site and the radio program, Smith said.

“The senator says the story is completely ridiculous. Mr. Rogers has no facts to back up his story,” Smith said.

Told of Craig’s reaction, Rogers replied that it sounded like “a non-denial denial” because the senator wasn’t denying the events occurred.

No, Smith said later, it’s a denial: “They absolutely did not (occur); there is no basis in fact.”

Rogers said he has a track record of successfully “outing” homosexual members of Congress, including a report a year and a half ago that Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., was gay.

Foley resigned last month when confronted with sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages he sent to congressional pages.

“I have never been wrong, and in this, you can’t be 99 percent right. It’s 100 percent or nothing.” Rogers said.

But even if he is right, revealing something so private about a public figure can be controversial.

State Rep. Nicole LeFavour, the only openly gay member of the Idaho Legislature, said such a revelation can be devastating to a politician.

“Officials who vote in ways that hurt the gay community are probably opening themselves up to real disappointment from the gay community,” said LeFavour, who was open about being gay when she first ran in 2002. “But gays and lesbians make sacrifices when they come out.”

LeFavour said she disagrees with Craig on some issues, including gay marriage, but has great respect for him on others.