[Rhodes22-list] Another Good Reason to Visit Slim

[Brad Haslett]

Just getting to hear Slim play is reason enough to fly to MSP, but if you
need another one, here it is!  Brad

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 US Senator's 'gay sting' sparks toilet tourism
By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 4:33pm BST 17/09/2007

New York has the Statue of Liberty, San Francisco boasts the Golden Gate
Bridge, and Washington is home to the White House.
 [image: US senator caught in 'gay' sting operation]Republican senator Larry
Craig has faced rumours about his sexuality since the 1980s

But Minneapolis' new must-see tourist attraction tops them all, at least for
lovers of a old-fashioned political sex scandal.

Visitors from across the United States are flocking to the men's toilets at
Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport to see the stall where Senator
Larry Craig was arrested for making sexual advances towards an undercover
male police officer<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/29/wsenator129.xml>
.

The Republican senator for Idaho was forced to resign earlier last month
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/01/wsenator101.xml>after
pleading guilty to "disorderly conduct" in relation to his behaviour in the
known gay cruising ground.

Mr Craig allegedly tapped his foot, brushed his shoe against the officer's
shoe and repeatedly waved his hand under the stall divider.

Now the scene of the sting is proving unexpectedly popular with curious air
travellers.

Karen Evans, who works at the airport's information desk, says that "Excuse
me, can you please tell me where the Larry Craig bathroom is?" is now one of
the most frequent questions she is asked.

"It's become a tourist attraction," Ms Evans told the Idaho Statesman
newspaper. "People are taking pictures."

Gee Butler, who works at the airport's shoeshine shop, told the paper:
"People have been going inside, taking pictures of the stall, taking
pictures outside the bathroom door - man, it's been crazy."

Jon and Sally Westby of Minneapolis popped in to the toilet while waiting
for their flight to Guatemala.

"We had to just stop and check out the bathroom," Mrs Westby said. "In fact,
it's Jon's second time - he was here last week already."

Mr Craig resigned after pressure from within his own party, but insists he
is not gay and has done nothing wrong.

He says he only pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct offence to "deal
with the matter expeditiously", and has applied to have the plea withdrawn.

For holidaymakers with more refined tastes, Minneapolis boasts the highest
density of theatres of any US city apart from New York, the beautiful Chain
of Lakes, and a much-admired statue of Mary Tyler Moore.

I