Manhunt for McCain

By: PAUL SCHINDLER | Towleroad, the popular gay blog run by Andy Towle, is reporting that just as Out magazine is posing the question whether manhunt.net is destroying gay culture, one of Manhunt's founders, Jonathan Crutchley, might be trying to destroy gay politics.

Out characterized Crutchley as a liberal Republican, but Towle does not mince words, characterizing him as “right-leaning” – in part for his $2,300 contribution to the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.

That contribution was first reported on the Huffington Post, which prompted a reader to post a comment to a year-old interview Crutchley gave to Online Personals Watch, complaining that the Manhunt founder apparently doesn't “believe in equal rights for gay men and women.” The next day, August 10, Crutchley posted a defense, Towle reports, writing, “Welcome to the age of the Internet, where everyone's private life becomes public. Yes, my contribution to John McCain's campaign for president was listed on the Huffington Post. I believe that McCain will be a better commander-in-chief than Obama, who also opposes gay marriage.”

In closing, Crutchley corrects the notion that he's a liberal Republican. “Don't call me a 'liberal,'” he posted. “That's an insult.”

On to Baghdad