Here's a list of 10 conservative anti-gay activists who turned out to be gay themselves.
1. Troy King
This top entry, Alabama Attorney General Troy King, plays itself out in beautiful symmetry.
Known for his vocal opposition to gay rights and for his attempt to outlaw sex toys, King was caught by his wife while having sex with a local homecoming King (see what we did there?) from--wait for it--Troy University.
Someone get the mascot over here and have it do a little dance.
2. Jim West
Spokane Mayor Jim West has worked really hard to debilitate gay rights in his community. He supported a bill to ban gays and lesbians from working in schools, daycare centers, and some state agencies, as well as a bill that bars the state from distributing pamphlets informing people how to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS.
He's proposed that "any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person" among teens be considered a criminal act.
However, for 25 years, West was having sexual relationships with boys and young men from his community and was, before he was caught, frequenting the very incognito website--just to show you his ninja skills--gay.com
All under the covers, of course. He even offered to find boys he'd "befriended" jobs with the city of Spokane in exchange for sex.
Some handcuffs, please. And no, not that kind.
3. Richard Curtis
This Washington State Representative has an anti-gay rights voting record--he voted against domestic partnerships for gays and opposed a bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Oh really now? Well, it wasn't before long that Mr. Mega-Compensation resigned from the House due to reports of his sexual encounter with a male escort being made, you know, "public" and all.
The reputed male prostitute, Cody Castagna, with whom he was cavorting, told police that Curtis offered him $1,000 to have sex with him and that Curtis purchased two gay pornographic films from the hotel for them to watch in his room.
Even more, this all went down with Curtis wearing a red negligee and Castagna has pictures to prove it. Pictures he only took as revenge when it was discovered that Curtis only had $200 in his wallet.
That's something to smile about. For us.
4. Bruce Barclay
Bruce Barclay, the Republican commissioner of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, is practically the gay porn star of politics. Due to an allegation of rape by 20-year-old male Marshall McCurdy, police obtained a warrant to search Barclay's home on March 31st.
They didn't find evidence of rape.
Instead, they found videotapes of hundreds of sexual encounters with men that Barclay filmed on high-tech surveillance cameras. It was apparent that Barclay and McCurdy had consensual sex.
It was also apparent that his personal Republican stance was not as right-wing as he'd led people to believe.
5. Roy Ashburn
On March 3, 2010, this conservative California State Senator, who always votes against any gay-rights bills, should have just stayed in for the night.
But then again, if he did, he wouldn't have accidentally outted himself in such a grand way.
As the story goes, after leaving a gay bar with an unidentified man, Roy Ashburn was arrested for DUI.
Despite his classy reveal, the point is this: he left a gay bar with an unidentified man. Since then, Ashburn has admitted that he's gay to KERN radio host Inga Barks, but that his voting record reflects his "responsibility to [his] constituents".
Kinda feels like he has a whole new demographic of constituents now that could use a liiiittle more help.
6. Larry Craig
Former Idaho Republican, Larry Craig, who served 18 years in the U.S. Senate, supported the Federal Marriage Amendment which banned marriage rights to same-sex couples and has a 0 rating from the Human Rights Campaign group.
His rating for lewd conduct, however, was raging high when he was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on June 11, 2007 for cottaging an undercover police officer.
A male undercover police officer.
Can the HRC give out negative ratings? Please?
7. Ed Schrock
Ed Schrock vehemently opposed gay-rights issues during his two terms in Congress. From same-sex marriage to allowing gays in the military, he was 100% against anything gay happening anywhere on, or near, the grid.
Meanwhile, off the grid: August 30, 2004, Ed Schrock dropped out of the race for his third term in Congress after being caught on tape soliciting sex from a gay prostitute.
Don't know why it was so incriminating he didn't even run, he could have just said what the next guy did when he got caught for the same thing...
8. Robert Allen
The truth comes out in a public restroom yet again. Florida State Representative, Robert Allen, was arrested for offering to perform fellatio to an undercover cop in the men's room of a park for $20.
The politician backed himself up by saying he only offered the policeman oral sex because he was afraid of black people and "didn't want to become a statistic"... which makes about as much sense to us as it does to you.
Statistics, though, show that Allen--who is married with children--has always voted against gay rights legislation.
His voting record is over 90% in line with the Christian Coalition, an advocacy group for anti-gay amendments.
He has achieved quite a bit, though, in going from anti-gay, to racist, to hypocrite, all the way to contradictory math error all in one day.
Hats off!
9. Ted Haggard
Known as Pastor Ted to his congregation at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Ted Haggard was outed by prostitute, and professional masseur, Mike Jones in November 2006 for paying him to engage in sex with him for three years.
He was also purchasing, then using, crystal methamphetamine ("Crystal Meth", for all the kids out there) with his pay-for-play partner.
Haggard had supported Colorado Amendment 43, which bans same-sex marriage in the state.
In his own words, he's not a homosexual, he's just a "heterosexual with issues."
10. Mark Foley
Oh, Mark Foley.
A man formerly in charge of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children (which dealt with legislation protecting Americans against sexual predators, and made stricter guidelines for tracking them) was caught having unlawful internet conversations via IM and email with two former pages (aged 16 and 18... oh, the irony).
Later, two news organizations quoted anonymous former pages saying they had sexual liaisons with Foley after turning 18 and 21.
Foley's answer to this, after all was said and done (through his lawyer), was that he had never "ever had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor in his life" and that he is "absolutely, positively not a pedophile".
His lawyer also said that Foley was a victim of sexual assault by an (unnamed) clergyman as a child and that the inappropriate conversations he had with the pages were due to alcoholism. Which is all a pretty convenient way to promote the right-wing "gay = disease" angle while still going down in flames.
His lawyer also stated that Foley is gay, even after Foley described even the thought of early allegations of his homosexuality as "revolting and unforgivable".
Apparently, his homosexuality had been an "open secret" in Washington for years.
By Joanne (Ranker)
