Thanks fortiesfun, Gillette, NCBear, DCDeep and others who brought some reason to this thread.
Everyone can agree that locker room harassment is uncool and needs to stop. Really, the story wouldn't need to continue from there, but the original poster introduced several other elements to the problem, whether he acknowledges it or not.
As many pointed out in various ways, 'two wrongs don't make a right' is not a difficult concept. I actually believe it's a symbol of ethical decline (in the U.S at least) that so many people can't seem to understand that. Instead they think 'If someone wrongs me, any reaction I have is justified'. One problem with that is that we want to paint ourselves as good people; it's very difficult not to minimize our own wrongs while wanting to hold other fully accountable. But no.
The fact that this guy was an asshole justifies neither the abusive language nor the physical threat. As many have noted, there are several other ways the original poster could have brought consequences on the person bothering him without resorting to the things he did.
Speaking of physical threats, the parallel between the shower stalker and men assaulting women is not accurate. What physical threat did an old, naked, overweight guy pose to our "hero"? To say this is the same as a man making sexual advances toward a woman alone in a park (or whatever similar example was given) minimizes the real physical danger that accompanies that annoying, unwanted proposition. Unwanted sexual attention is bothersome. It becomes threatening when someone has the power to physically force themselves on you.
Thanks to those who pointed out that gay men are also the objects of this too, not just the perpetrators. And yet these threads so often get turned into "straight man's burden." And that's what I so often hate about them - legitimate gripes turn into a back-patting session for a few straight guys to commiserate about how the gays are fucking up their lives. My wish for everybody: may unwanted attention in the locker room be the worst problem you have to face.
In fact, this story in particular, complete with the ogling security guard who doesn't listen to any eyewitnesses, almost seems designed to create the most favorable environment possible for a guy to be 'supported' for his homophobia. And please - 'some of my best friends are gay' is the oldest line in the book. People should be judged on their actions and the merits of their ideas, not because they make empty claims like "I'm not homophobic, but ..." In fact, that very statement almost inevitably precedes some outrageously homophobic idea. LOL!
The trip about the nasty, old overweight body is also very revealing, as others noted. For those of you who condone the scorn towards his physical appearance, and especially to those of you who encouraged even more of it, may you be so lucky as to live long enough that your own old, wrinkled ass might hobble into a locker room to be sneered at by the latest generation of hardbodies.
I always get a ton of shit when I post on this topic, so flame away! I can hardly wait. But at least be fair enough to give me credit for this:
Everyone can agree that locker room harassment is uncool and needs to stop.
gay people can be the biggest of hypocrites--"respect us even though we are disrespectful; accept us even though we aren't accepting; don't judge us even though we judge..." the list goes on.
And sometimes we can be our own worst enemies, can't we, BigLittleMan? Sometimes the hatred we have for each other can dwarf the condescending and hostile way some straight people look at us. Several straight posters at least had the token politeness to note that it is a minority of gay guys who engage in the criticized behavior. I think you used the broadest brush yet to make it seem like this really is a "gay problem." No wonder we struggle to get ahead when we are so busy turning our knives on each other.