Today the New York Times published a story about Illinois GOP Congressman Aaron Schock’s “popular Instagram persona” and the many (male) admirers his shirtless photos have accumulated. “Popular Instagram persona” is the Times’s clever way of saying “homosexuality.” Just read the story itself.

Mr. Schock has posted shots of himself surfing in Hawaii and sliding down a sand dune on a wooden plank and splashing into the water. ... “Ride it, baby,” a man from New York wrote. Another man commented, “Rawr!” Someone with an anonymous profile wrote, “URGH marry me you fiscally conservative stud you.” (Mr. Schock has said that he is not gay.)

You’ll notice, of course, that the Times never explicitly states that Representative Schock is gay. Just that two male Instagram users, one of them in New York, happened to compliment the physical attractiveness of the Congressman’s body. Normal stuff like that.

This isn’t the first Times article referring to Schock’s Instagram account, but it is, weirdly enough, the first of those articles to name the Congressman. When a former CBS News freelancer alluded to Schock’s sexuality in a January post on Facebook—and the subsequent discussion became too large for the Times to ignore—the paper refused to print Schock’s name. It did, however, describe (without linking to) the very same Instagram account, “which included photos of him lifting weights at the gym and following the newly out diver Tom Daley,” on which today’s report is based.

We hope the Times continues to closely follow this story.

In the meantime, post your favorite moments of Schock’s personal Instagram persona below.

[Photo credit: Instagram]