Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

He doesn’t want to be touched by other men. He is a married heterosexual and he had no qualms announcing so during debate on a land use bill by the PA House Committee on State Government. That’s our Daryl Metcalfe.  And he’s officially heterosexual.

Representative Matt Bradford, the ranking Democrat on the committee, was seated next to Metcalfe and lightly touched his forearm while making comments. The meeting descended into chaotic laughter and went far off the rails as Bradford noted.

Metcalfe gets to set boundaries, for sure. He has every right to ask colleagues not to touch him. But this little gem ‘I don’t like men, as you might’ is important. His desire to avoid being touched in a casual, professionally appropriate way does not hinge on his heterosexuality, his marriage, or the sexual orientation (real or perceived) of the person touching him. Suggesting that Bradford touched his arm because he might like men is disrespectful, homophobic, and not the point.

I’m tempted to point out that Metcalfe would have been better served by privately asking Bradford not to touch him. But I can also see that perhaps he put up with a lot of touching that genuinely makes him uncomfortable and reached a snapping point. That makes me wonder if Metcalfe really believes the homophobic crap he spews? Has he internalized it so much that he cannot literally stand the touch of another man?

That’s actually rather frightening.

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Also – it would be great if the media would stop citing the fact that Bradford has a wife and four children as context to demonstrate he’s not gay. That’s feeding the beast and certainly not proof of anything, nor is this remotely about an alleged closeted gay legislator copping a forearm feel on camera during work. Not the point.

Updated via Maria from 2 Political Junkies brought my attention to a 2006 post where a commenter indicated Metcalfe has done this before.