The Idaho Statesman had senator Larry Craig running scared earlier this year. The local paper had been investigating Craig's long-rumored homosexuality and, apparently, Craig didn't approve:

Months before his arrest at a Minneapolis airport, Sen. Larry Craig was considering a lawsuit against an Idaho newspaper and hired an attorney he later retained to represent him in the sex-sting case.
…
[Craig] hired Washington lawyer Billy Martin and public relations executive Judy Smith in late January or early February, spokesman Dan Whiting said Wednesday.

Craig hired Martin and Smith because he was thinking of suing The Idaho Statesman newspaper for "harassment" over its investigation into Craig's sexual orientation, Whiting said.

Craig's team stopped working with him on July 7th, four days before his infamous encounter with an undercover cop in the Minneapolis airport.

So it continues…

Author Terry McMillan's got plenty to say, especially when it comes to her ex-husband, Jonathan Plummer. As Plummer plugs his unimaginative "novel", McMillan sits down with Uneq magazine to offer her two cents on Plummer's one-track mind.

You'll have to buy the current issue of Uneq to read the interview. The mag's press flack, however, did pass along a long-winded, explosive and very angry statement from McMillan. Here's a sample:

…He doesn't care if he ever goes back to Jamaica. It is the main reason he went on television to announce his homosexuality. He wanted the people in Jamaica to be embarrassed and to hate him so that in the event that our marriage were annulled - his goal was to use the self-generated hatred sure to come from Jamaica so that he would qualify for asylum and be able to stay in this country if his citizenship were revoked or in jeopardy. This is how slick he is.

Read the rest of McMillan's statement, after the jump.

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Australia's gay glossy DNA can't contain its excitement over their newest issue. Staffers are so excited, in fact, that they wanted us to pass along some Troy Philips and Akimitsu Sadoi shots of model Patrick. No last name required or desired…

See some more shots after the jump…

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Tired of looking like a glammed up kd lang in his editorial head shot, Genre chief Neal Boulton decided to butch it up a bit with a new "post-gay" picture. Post-gay apparently resembles post-apocalyptic - but, quite frankly, we prefer the new shot. We have a sinking feeling, however, that it won't be ink-grabbing Boulton's last touch-up.

Bad friend boy bander Lance Bass' yet to be released memoir Out of Sync currently comes in at 1,252 on Amazon.com's best-seller list. Jonathan Plummer's atrocious tell-all, Balancing Act, falls at a disgraceful 166,632.

In other gay book news, Dina McGreevey's Silent Memoir: A Memoir of My Marriage grabbed the 51,214th slot, while ex-hubby and gay American Jim McGreevey's The Confession paperback's comes in near at 370,711.

The American Library Association received 546 requests to ban books last year. ALA deputy director Deborah Caldwell-Stone, however, estimated that the unofficial challenges - that is, unregistered - may be closer to 2000. Many of these controversial books are queer. Chicago Free Press' Paul Vernell offers some suggestions on how to save gay reads:

For one thing, simply be alert to news reports of book challenges and be prepared to speak up and offer support to the library and its mission of providing books for readers with a variety of interests.

Second, we can check out and read (and then return) a gay-themed book. Libraries live by circulation: It is proof that they are doing their job. Caldwell-Stone points out that one of the ways librarians can justify retaining a book is that the book is popular—that there is a clear patron constituency for the book. Don’t be reluctant to check out young adult books. Many are well written and have intriguing plots. And the children’s picture books are usually clever and, well, cute.

Third, we can issue our own challenges—not to ban a book we might not like (that would make us as bad as the homophobes) but a “challenge” or request for the library to acquire a gay book or two that it does not currently have. Or challenge it to replace a book that has been missing for a long time. Libraries—at least in Chicago—don’t seem to keep a list of the books that are missing or were taken out and never returned. So if you notice one, ask for it to be replaced.

This sounds like there's a lot of reading involved. Can we get this on video?

• Larry Craig to announce plans tomorrow. We bet he resigns.

• Speaking of bets. What are the odds Suzanne Craig will pull a Dina Matos McGreevey and tell all?

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Gee whiz, readers! Another spectacular five days here at Queerty. Thanks for all your wonderful comments. We really appreciate it.

Queerty ReBUTTal's usually dedicated to our comments on your comments, but we're opening the floor to our editor this week.

If you're feeling brave, check out what he's been up to over the past five days as he jetted from New York to LA, met porn stars, politicians and prolific journalists.

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• The number one reason why men shower after sex:

…Men are 0-to-60 machines, baby, and we can stop on a dime. Two seconds before orgasm, we might savor the thought of belly flopping in a pool of love juices, but two seconds afterward, lust plummets and we just feel … well, sticky.

Until the "love juices" dry. Then we feel crusty.

• National gay groups call on Broward County Commission to take action against Fort Lauderdale's anti-gay mayor, Jim Naugle.

• Overzealous donkey needs to learn some sexual manners.

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Remember The Advocate's first issue? No, we don't either, but that doesn't mean we're not happy to help the gay news mag celebrate its 40th Anniversary!

In honor of this milestone, The Advocate's looking back over the last four decades to remember the forty most important gay movers and shakers.

Of course, the illustrious editors would never dream of compiling such a list without a little input from educated and opinionated readers such as yourselves.

Thus, they're politely requesting you and yours head on over and rank a list of one hundred activists, actors, authors and other assorted cultural icons.

The top forty vote-grabbers get featured on The Advocate's 40th anniversay edition, which hits stands in September.

Act fast, though, because polls close August 15th.

HX will be undergoing some changes in the next few weeks.

Two different sources tell us CEO Matthew Bank and publisher Gary Lacinski spent yesterday swinging their ax at the sales staff, taking out four employees. One reader writes:

The reason for the cut is that HX is moving in a new direction (whatever that means) and is restructuring the team. Apparently Matthew is hiring a director of marketing. Could it be that they needed to lose four employees to make up for one new one?

Sure, that's a possibility.

It seems more likely, however, that Bank's trying to save some dough to fight Manuel Alex Saez's $1.25 million libel lawsuit. But maybe that's just us being cynical.

"In his grip". That's how Love In Action Reverend John Smid signed his emails to homo-journo Joshua Lyon, who went undercover to cover conversion therapy for August's Jane.

After shelling out $3,500 of (hopefully) Conde Nast's dough, Lyon put his homosexuality on the line at LIA's Memphis HQ. Apparently Smid and his cultish company enjoy restraints as much as leather loving Reverend Mark Sorvillo.

As we pull in LIA's A-framed church headquarters, we're surrounded by at least 10 residents, who promptly disappear with my luggage. No one makes eye contact with me. Inside, I'm given a black binder with more than 100 rules listed in it. [We] sit in a large circle in the basement and take turns spouting off the most important ones from memory.

"You must have two other people with you at all times - even when you go to the bathroom - for accountability," says a beefy-looking jock.

LIA may sound like a God awful drag, but the Bible thumpers know how to have a good time. Lyon's suburban sanctuary came complete with Reader's Digest Treasury of Great Show Tunes. Rocking!

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Free fag rag HX may have to start charging soon.

A Manhattan judge has ruled that "mere model and dancer" Manuel Alex Saez can proceed with a $1.25 million lawsuit against the New York-based weekly.

A dancer for Splash bar, Saez agreed to appear in an advert for the sweat-soaked hot spot. He did not, however, agree to a new name and career - HX referred to him as "Big City video porn star Alex". The magazine also promised readers "He'll definitely get your sprinklers working." Talk about a Splash!

Saez says the ad caused him "emotional and mental suffering and distress, and sleeplessness and aggravation". The magazine and its lawyers failed to convince the judge otherwise. And, what's more, they admitted to not checking up on Saez's porn stats - or lack thereof. Although, to be fair, it's an honest mistake. Have you been to Splash?

HX seem unfazed by the scandal. Lawyer Alan Effron told The Post he's sure further consideration will show the "magazine acted responsibly". Good for you, Effron, now you just have to prove it. Or keep fighting until a judge throws the suit out, which would probably be easier.

While gay folk at the New York Times decry a photo director's alleged homophobia, let's all take a look at America's great legacy of anti-gay attitudes in the media. Here famed newsman and Talk Back host George Putnam narrates the anti-porn propaganda video, Perversion for Profit.

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