Until last Sunday, I had never heard of Aidan Maese-Czeropski.  You probably hadn’t, either.  If he did what some say he did, I don’t care to know him.  If he didn’t do it, he has my sincere sympathies for what he’s enduring.

In case you missed it – as I did the first few days this was “news” – Mr. Maese-Czeropsky, a staffer in the office of Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), is alleged to have recorded a video of himself having intercourse with another man in a U.S. Senate committee room – the Judiciary Committee, if you’re curious.

Whether it’s actually him or someone else, this is not ok.  If it’s not him, it’s likely another Senate staffer.  Who else, of course, has access to these rooms when they’re not in use for actual Senate business?  One might suppose that security cameras are in the adjacent hallways but not in the Committee Room, since classified information might be discussed therein.  I don’t know.  I don’t care to know, and trust the Capitol Police to figure it out.

I’ve glimpsed only a few seconds of the video in question.  I’m not an expert, but I’m guessing from changing camera angles – which show the full panorama of the room itself – that a third person was also there.  Or maybe an automated camera.  Or … I don’t know.  Homemade porn is not my specialty.  (Strangely enough, one media outlet referred to him as “a white man” and another said the sex was “apparently unprotected” – as if either of those details is anything more than a distraction from the real offense.)

According to media sources, Sen. Cardin’s office says only that Mr. Maese-Czeropsky no longer works there.  On his LinkedIn page, the young man posted an apologia of sorts, in which he referenced prior “errors in judgement” (sic) but said he’s being persecuted because of who he loves.

Well, no.  If he’s among the miscreants on the tape, his termination has nothing to do with who he loves and everything to do with errors in judgment.  It wouldn’t matter if the escapade captured on video and subsequently shared on social media was two men (plus a photographer of unknown gender), two women, a man and a woman, or whatever consenting adults might’ve been involved.  Having sex in a Senate Committee Room is just not OK.  If the accused is NOT among those on the tape (nor the photographer), he should be reinstated with apologies.

All of that said, however, the gay press has been quick to jump on this (no pun intended) as a case of conservatives blaming the incident on “gay depravity.”  Well, no.  Not really.  Because here’s the thing:  If you think straight people haven’t had sex in such politically sacred spaces, think again.  I’d bet any random internal organ that more than a few senators, of both sexes and varied orientations, have engaged in similar behavior, and probably in the same room.  They apparently just had the good sense not to record or share it.  It’s still not ok.

A colleague at one of my political jobs many years ago once asked me if I had “christened” my office yet.  I inferred his meaning and said that I had not.  He said that he and his wife had engaged in such things in his office shortly after acquiring it.  Well, OK.  At least they had the good sense not to record it and, one supposes, to keep the door closed and locked.

Also years ago, I met someone who was ardently anti-church.  I asked why.  He said he had been expelled after being caught “with his pants down” with another church member in the sacristy.  Dude!  And you think the CHURCH is in the wrong here?

Another friend occasionally has to work on weekends and her husband insists on accompanying her – ostensibly for her safety, but also for their mutual pleasure in a taboo environment.  Not my business.  Whatever.

Did young Aidan (I’m tired of typing his complicated surname) commit these offenses? I don’t know.  It’s not my job to find out.  If he did, and if he thinks his termination is really about his orientation, he’s too stupid to work in the Senate anyway.  As a gay man, a longtime political operative, and a Republican for the last 33 years, I resent the implication that all gay men are “depraved.”  We’re not.  Few of us – few of ANY demographic, for goodness sake – are stupid, crude, or lewd enough to do what these people did.

If Aidan didn’t do this, let him off the hook, pronto – BUT FIND OUT WHO DID!  No matter who it was, Democrat or Republican; gay, straight, bi, or transgender, this is just not OK.  Is it criminal?  I don’t know the statutes regarding such things in my hometown.  That’s also not my job.

But, for goodness’ sake, stop playing party games with this offense.  Plenty of Republicans have been caught with their pants down (or blouses off) in places they shouldn’t have been.  (Thinking of you, Larry Craig, Bob Packwood, Lauren Boebert.)  So have Democrats. (I’m looking at you, Barney Frank, Joe Biden and Ted Kennedy.)  This might’ve been “gay depravity” in this instance, but we homos hardly hold the corner on this market.

I’m no prude, by any means.  Consenting adults can do as they wish, but for goodness’ sake, don’t do it in a public place – nor, certainly, in a publicly OWNED place.  Shameful.  Whoever these men are, they’ve crossed several lines but they’re far from alone.

Don’t ask me to name names.