Larry Craig bathroom now a tourist attraction
MINNEAPOLIS --- There was no line for the first tourist attraction that many delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention were encountering.
The airport men's room where Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) allegedly sought sex from an undercover male police officer was open for use after a janitor finished cleaning it Saturday afternoon. Classical music played, the Dyson Airblade hand-dryers whirred and a "Diaper Deck" fold-down diaper-changing table went unused.
(AP file)
The French Meadow Bakery Cafe opposite the rest room's entrance offers "organic and fresh food."
Shortly after Craig was arrested there in June 2007, the men's room became a bit of a tourist attraction, with men and women asking directions and stopping to take pictures.
Toilet paper from the restroom was offered on E-Bay, but the hubbub eventually died down. Airport officials say they have no plans to cordon off the restroom as thousands of delegates and media from around the country and the world land here this weekend.
Craig is not expected to join the Republican delegation from his state. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after the officer conducting a sting in the bathroom said Craig looked into his stall, sat in the adjacent stall, tapped his foot under the divider and reached under the stall.
Craig has responded that he just had a "wide stance," is "not gay" and only pleaded guilty to avoid a spectacle. He tried to withdraw his guilty plea, but an appeals court turned him down.