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THRILL OF THE HUNT
And they say capitalism’s evil. But which other system could possibly reconcile online gay pick-up sites with right-wing Christian fundamentalism?
Last week, major US blog sites The Huffington Post and Towleroad reported that Jonathan Crutchley, one of the multi-millionaire founders of Manhunt.com, individually donated $2,300 to Republican senator John McCain’s presidential campaign. Not that Crutchley has ever kept his political leanings in the closet: he proudly admits to being a ‘Massachusetts Republican’, which in his mind ‘is about the same as being an Alabama Democrat’. But Towleroad readers weren’t convinced, with many of the literally hundreds of people who posted comments to the relevant entry claiming they would cancel their Manhunt accounts post-haste.
Sure enough, at the board’s request Crutchley stood down from his post as Manhunt’s chair, and the site’s other co-founder (and Crutchley’s life partner) Larry Basile went into damage control, reassuring subscribers that Manhunt was not a Republican stronghold.
Interestingly, Republicans and anonymous gay sex are not quite as mutually exclusive as some people might think – or at least, as many Republicans might hope. Remember Larry Craig, the Idaho congressman arrested last year for tapping his foot in an airport public toilet, allegedly with a view to solicit gay trade? Or Mark Foley, the anti-child pornography crusader caught sending sexually explicit emails and instant messages to teenage male congressional aides? Who knows, perhaps both men once had, or still have anonymous Manhunt accounts. It can’t be easy being openly gay in a political party so financially and ideologically beholden to the US’ many powerful anti-gay Christian right organisations.
Not that this is particularly relevant in Crutchley’s case, however, who if nothing else was making a canny decision as a businessman to donate to the political party historically better known for looking after the wealth-makers through inequitable upper class tax breaks. And Manhunt is after all a hugely profitable brand.
The problem, however, is that no amount of free market libertarianism would ever be likely to trump the agendas of folk like Craig, Sally Kern, (recently departed) Jesse Helms and the many other Republican lawmakers hell-bent on quashing any and all gay visibility and empowerment, including online dating and sex sites. Indeed, Crutchley was informed by the McCain camp that his donation would be returned – a sign that the party is no more eager to receive this funding than the Manhunt board and many of its members were for Crutchley to donate it.
Perhaps one of Towleroad’s readers, Steven W, summed it up best: ‘There is an obvious divide between the blue-collar/working class gays and those that have found vast wealth through whatever means. Do you know why the “gay agenda” … isn't at the top of Jonathan Crutchley’s list of priorities? Because he can afford to have it not be.’
Sam Butler:
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