Virginia: Who is the Closeted Gay Republican Delegate with the Anti-Gay Voting Record?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Joe.My.God: VIRGINIA: Anti-Gay Lawmaker Busted On Grindr, Local Gay Paper Declines to Name Him, Dan Savage Objects

January 27, 2016 Civil Rights, Homocons, LGBT News

Brad Kutner of GayRVA, Virginia’s LGBT newspaper, was tipped this weekend about a state lawmaker spotted cruising on Grindr. Rather than publicly outing him for his anti-LGBT voting record, Kutner has published a lengthy open letter to him.

Who Is the Closeted Gay Republican With the Anti-Gay Voting Record, the Toned Twinkish Torso, and the Active Grindr Account?

by Dan Savage • Jan 27, 2016 at 10:06 am

Brad Kutner penned an open letter for GAYRVA, Richmond, Virginia’s queer paper, addressed to the "Southwestern Virginia GOP lawmaker" who tried to pick up a college-aged gay dude on Grindr during last weekend's blizzard...

{Lets} talk about your role as a legislator and how it impacts and affects LGBTQ people in the rest of the Commonwealth. I’ve looked up your voting record and there’s a number of things you voted against which makes me wonder: Do you ever want to have kids? You voted to make it harder for same-sex couples to adopt by allowing state funded adoption agencies to deny adoptions to people that violate their moral “conscience.” Even if you don’t want children some day, you have made it damn near impossible for the people you’re trying to sleep with to do the same here in Virginia....

I know you’re obviously not out at work here at the General Assembly, but I have to ask why you would vote against a law which would have protected LGBTQ Virginian’s for being fired for who they love. It’s not often that these bills offering these kinds of protections make it to a full house vote, but you managed to take the opportunity to put your own people down. Self-hatred is not cute, by the way and is thoroughly an unattractive character or personality trait.

Speaking of self loathing behaviors, why did you vote against the appointment of an openly gay Judge? That vote was less-than-subtle on why and how it was targeted—with several conservative Senate members walking out rather than voting him in—but again, you sat there quietly and let the broader anti-gay sentiment at the GA take the driver’s seat.

Kutner and his editors at GAYRVA declined to out this legislator despite his anti-LGBT voting record because "he hasn’t been specifically vocal on LGBTQ issues."

I disagree: this legislator's votes against workplace protections for LGBT people, adoption rights for same-sex couples, and the judicial appointment of a qualified out gay man speak loudly of his hypocrisy and the the particular kind of damage done when closeted conservatives abuse their political power to protect their closets. We've heard this song about a thousand times before...

Just another closeted conservative asshole throwing other LGBT people under the bus—attacking other LGBT people with his votes—to deflect attention away from his own sexuality. He figures that no one will suspect him of being gay so long as he maintains a perfect anti-gay voting record—that more than qualifies this asshole for an outing. Here's hoping Internet sleuths are already on the case; there's more than enough detail in Kutner's open letter (and those Grindr pics) to identify this guy, if only through process of elimination. Get on it, Internet.

But, hey, even if the Internet sleuths fail us... this guy may wind up outing himself in the end. "{We’re} choosing to leave {him} anonymous," the say the editors at GAYRVA, "however we hope this message reaches {his} desk and {he'll} consider the words below if and when {he} have a chance to vote on LGBTQ related bills in the future."

If he casts another anti-LGBT vote, GAYRVA will out him. But if he pulls a 180 and suddenly starts casting pro-LGBT votes, he'll be outing himself. Checkmate either way.

[JudyM]

1. Just wow. That's great! More of these should happen.