Rep. Kerry Gauthier (DFL-Duluth) has announced to Northland’s News Center that he will seek re-election, despite widespread rebuke of his candidacy in the wake of a sex-scandal involving a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop.
I don’t know at this time how he plans to address the incident itself or the fact that his House DFL caucus has called for the end of his campaign. Two DFL candidates, Duluth assistant fire chief Erik Simonson and Duluth city councilor Jay Fosle, have already announced write-in campaigns. Republican Travis Silvers was already on the ballot and surely must have the attention of his party’s House caucus at this point.
This is political malpractice of the highest order. Gauthier has done everything wrong from the incident itself until the present. He will not be re-elected under any circumstances, but his presence on the ballot will cause persistent problems for the DFL and opposition to the marriage amendment.
UPDATE: The Duluth News Tribune apparently has knowledge of the NNC report and shares some of the details here. Two prominent labor leaders in Duluth are vowing to continue supporting Gauthier.
“Two prominent labor leaders in Duluth are vowing to continue supporting Gauthier.”
Good for them. You have to admire Gauthier for refusing to surrender his position because some people are offended by his private sex life. Its about time that we admitted that this has nothing to do with the job of representing us.
I think having sex with a stranger you solicited on the internet is unseemly, at best. I think someone his age having sex with a 17 year old, no matter how willing and enthusiastic, is unseemly.
But the real question is why either of these were matters for police investigation. If this had been a 17 year old girl, the police would have dropped the matter when they determined her age and consent. Gautier’s real “crime” was being gay. And the media, including you Aaron, are determined to punish him for it.
What he did was wrong and had a state representative been caught with a 17-year-old girl it would have been just as big a scandal. The cops were clearly flummoxed by the situation, I don’t know. But if someone had seen him there, recognized him and taken an iPhone picture it would still be a scandal. How you got caught is irrelevant in the minds of voters.
Moreover, he’s going to lose. And he’s going to lose in a way that sets back not only his party, something that may or may not matter to most people, but also the gay community, who already must fight vicious stereotypes about middle aged gay men preying on young victims. This is awful and I don’t mind asking him to leave the race for the good of all concerned, including himself.
But by all means, continue explaining to me how I’m wrong about the 56-year-old man who had sex with a 17-year-old at the rest stop.
You have to be really out of touch to try and make this a homosexual rights issue. Having sexual relations in a public place with either sex is wrong. This also means it is inappropriate behaviour for a legislator. Maybe Jeff Anderson should weigh in.
And Aaron is right, the ages involved isn’t irrelevant either.
“What he did was wrong and had a state representative been caught with a 17-year-old girl it would have been just as big a scandal”
It wouldn’t have even been reported. And if someone had taken a picture, it would have been ignored since no one would have known the age of his partner in crime.
“middle aged gay men preying on young victims.”
Except we don’t have a “victim” here. If this were a young woman who picked up a middle aged man, you would not call her a “victim”. We have a young gay man who sought out sex with a middle aged gay man. He isn’t a victim.
And as far as I can tell, neither one proposed marriage. So it has nothing to do with the measure on the ballot.
“But by all means, continue explaining to me how I’m wrong about the 56-year-old man who had sex … at the rest stop. “
No Aaron, I save my public moralizing for people’s public lives. And I frankly don’t care where people have sex, as long as they don’t do it public. No one witnessed them having sex. We only know they did because of the police report.
You need to continue explaining why you are pandering to homophobia.
I will not, because I’ve fought homophobia my whole career in the heart of the Iron Range. Which you know. Your partisan blinders are on and I just simply disagree with the entire premise of your argument. Gauthier’s behavior was wrong. Period.
I think it is telling where some homosexuals are at that they are at ease defending soliciting sex in a public place. The Thompson Hill rest stop is a public place even if nobody is there at all. The fact that some adult or child didn’t come across this scene doesn’t remove the fact that this is a public place. Engaging in overt sexual behaviour in public is not acceptable. That would be equally true if it had been a 17 year old girl. Even Gauthier has admitted this wasn’t adult behaviour although he’s insufficiently repentant to step down (perhaps he has no marketable skills).
Aaron –
“Gauthier’s behavior was wrong. Period.”
So is drunk driving. Did you demand Tom Rukavina resign and not run for reelection. He actually endangered people’s lives.
David –
The woods anywhere on state or federal land is a “public place”. Having sex in public implies a place where it is likely the public will observe.
“Even Gauthier has admitted this wasn’t adult behaviour “
So what? Failing to act like an adult does not disqualify you from public office.
“That would be equally true if it had been a 17 year old girl. “
Well, I have engaged in sex with a 17 year old in a public place. And she engaged in sex with a 17 year old in a public place at the same time. And we were quite careful to make sure we kept it private.
And to be absolutely clear –
No one has defended advertising for sex partners on the internet,
No one has defended a 56 year old wanting to have sex with someone who is 17,
No one has defended choosing a rest stop as a trysting place.
None of those have much to do with the job of representing people in the legislature.
>The woods anywhere on state or federal land is a “public place”.
No kidding, nobody has any business engaging in that sort of activity on those sort of public lands.
>>Well, I have engaged in sex with a 17 year old in a public place.
Well that pretty much disqualifies you as someone of decent reputation. Maybe the DFL doesn’t want you in the legislature either. You’re just great evidence of the sort of problem this society has.
“Well that pretty much disqualifies you as someone of decent reputation.”
I couldn’t care less what moral prigs think about my reputation. They have their own problems.
“nobody has any business engaging in that sort of activity on those sort of public lands.”
Then I guess we should post signs on the entrances to wilderness areas, state park, and Forest Service campgrounds “No sex allowed”.
“will not, because I’ve fought homophobia my whole career”
Aaron, I suggest you substitute in this situation a black legislator, a young white woman and people’s racial stereotypes. I think worrying about the incident’s impact on civil rights laws would be pandering to racism.
This incident is irrelevant to whether we should vote to prohibit gays from getting married. And suggesting it could legitimately effect that vote is pandering to homophobic prejudice.
>>Then I guess we should post signs on the entrances to wilderness areas, state park, and Forest Service campgrounds “No sex allowed”.
No more than we need a sign saying “no pickpocketing allowed.” You really don’t get the dynamics of this. From a societal aspect I hope you prove to be very lonely. From a political aspect I’m tempted to hope you have lots of company and it is joined at the hip to the DFL in the public imagination. Thissen is a lot smarter than you. Yes, I’m sure you think Thissen is a homophobe, blah, blah blah…
Another DFLer shows some smarts (courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune):
Duluth Rep. Tom Huntley said today he strongly opposes Rep. Kerry Gauthier’s decision to stay in the race for re-election to the Minnesota House and called his DFL colleague “a child molester.”
Oh,my …such sanctimony. While Mr Gauthier obviously made a very poor decision with his encounter, I find it quite interesting that some here think escapades in “public” areas are unusual.
I am quite an old heterosexual lady, and I have been aware of such goings on in parks, parking lots, wooded areas, etc. forever…b/w HETEROSEXUALS,since I was a teen ager, 60+ years ago Some of those who are so critical have either led very sheltered lives, or are just plain hypocrites.
Older men have preyed on young girls always, but somehow this situation involving 2 males brings on outrage that is over the top,IMO. What a surprise.
Tom Huntley’s remark was completely uncalled for.
I suspect the 2 individuals involved have probably experienced shaming many times simply for being gay….and certainly all those who are making judgements about them have never made a serious error in their pristine lives
All things considered, Mr.Gauthier could no longer represent his constituents, and I am relieved he has made the decision to bow out….both for himself, the young man, and the MN Democrats
>>Some of those who are so critical have either led very sheltered lives, or are just plain hypocrites.
That is a willfully obtuse comment. One can be aware of something without approving of it.
Now that the story has changed since this post was written, I will respond again.
Does sex occur in public places? Yes. Is that a big deal? It depends. How does it affect other people? Who is involved? It is the confluence of problems here, the age of the boy, the responsibility of someone in Gauthier’s position, and the dangers and risks associated with it all. It was purely a bad decision. Gauthier’s behavior after the incident was revealed was also problematic. All of this together would have made it difficult to impossible to serve, much less get re-elected.
I just read his interview with Channel 6. I think it shows a man who is sorry, who is not a bad person, who has a road ahead of him that will be good for him and the people in his life. I am glad for that, as my position here was neither personal nor pleasant for me to write.
But to be clear, I do not agree with the notion that this was no big deal. It was. The right thing is happening. I hope you understand my sincerity in trying to do the right thing, too, in what I share and how I describe it here at the blog. I come from a family with a long history of substance abuse problems and I know many people who have struggled with being gay in a place where that is not easy. So my sympathies are with Kerry. My sympathies are also with the people in Duluth, who now have a mess to deal with. But public service, especially in elected office, is and should be highly reactive to success and failure. This was a failure on his part; may he yet build success. Indeed, may we all.
“No more than we need a sign saying “no pickpocketing allowed.””
As far as I know, fondling someone in a state park campground is not illegal. I am not sure what the connection between those two are except you apparently don’t approve of either one.
“You really don’t get the dynamics of this.”
I think I get the dynamics entirely. This is politics, which engenders sanctimony and hypocrisy in some people.
“One can be aware of something without approving of it.”
Thankfully, no one needs your approval. But it ought to be clear that your disapproval is not with the trysting place or the age of his partner or how they hooked up, you disapprove of him having sex. It it fondling or oral sex that upsets you?
And just to make clear how far from being fatal politically this would be if involved a heterosexual:
“In 1993, two Corona, California, police officers found Calvert with a woman in his car, his pants unzipped and his penis exposed. When one officer spotlit the interior of the vehicle, Calvert attempted to drive away. The officers instructed him to stop three times before he complied. Calvert told the police that he and the woman, who said she was a convicted prostitute and a heroin user, were “just talking.””
Calvert is still a United States Congressman.