Ex-Miami Beach Pool Attendant Received $1.8 Million Loan From Falwells

Falwell and former pool attendant to whom he loaned $1.8 million.

Try as he might to brush off allegations that former Trump fixer Michael Cohen facilitated fixing a "problem" with racy, intimate photos involving anti-gay bigot and Trump BFF Jerry Falwell, Jr., many in the media are continuing a feeding frenzy over the questions swirling around the alleged photos and an individual some reports are referring to as a "pool boy" who may have been the party who sought to put a financial squeeze on Falwell.  As the Miami New Times is reporting, one Giancarlo Granda, a former Fontainebleau Hotel pool attendant, bizarrely received $1.8 million in loans Jerry Falwell Jr.  It goes without saying that the loans look curious at best.  Meanwhile, Granda is in a pique over news reports referring to him as a pool boy.   Ironically, the story is something that one would expect to see in Trump's former protectors at the National Inquirer. I am sorry if some may believe I am enjoying Falwell's media misfortunes, but time and time again over the life of this blog anti-gay politicians, advocates of ex-gay conversion therapy, and holier than though religious "leaders" have proved to be total hypocrites and have been exposed to have engaged in the very behaviors they condemn while fleecing their followers.  Remember anti-gay zealot Ted Haggard or former GOP Virginia 2nd District Congressman Ed Schrock, just two of numerous examples?  Here are article excerpts (The Advocate also has coverage here):

Giancarlo Granda, the former Fontainebleau pool attendant whose business bizarrely received $1.8 million in loans from famous evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr., wants the world to stop calling him a "pool boy." He finds the term demeaning.

And, perhaps more notable, he officially denies knowing anything about alleged "racy" photos referenced in a Reuters story published yesterday. Reuters investigative reporter Aram Roston obtained a clandestine recording made by comedian Tom Arnold in which Donald Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen said he helped Falwell Jr. hide intimate photos that a lawyer "in Florida" had obtained. In the recording, Cohen — a man who has ostensibly seen his fair share of shenanigans — said even he found one of the photos to be "terrible."

Roston was also the reporter who broke the news that Falwell Jr. had mysteriously loaned Granda's business a ton of money and that Cohen was aware of a lawsuit involving Falwell and Granda. Reporters have, ahem, speculated that Granda was the Floridian who had obtained said photos and that Cohen might have leveraged the scandal to get Falwell Jr. to endorse the infamously lecherous and not-at-all Jesus-like Trump in 2016.

But today, Granda's lawyer, Aaron Resnick, denied Granda had anything to do with this. Everything about the Falwell Jr. story is extremely weird. To summarize: In 2012, Granda was working as a pool attendant at the luxurious Fontainebleau in Miami Beach. While Granda was employed there, Falwell Jr. and his wife Becki stayed at the resort and, according to court records, "befriended" Granda. From there, Granda grew very close to the Falwell family: According to court filings first reported by Roston, Granda, along with Falwell's son Trey, bought a hostel on Alton Road in Miami Beach and has been managing it ever since. (A Politico reporter even stayed there and implied the place was gay-friendly, which would be pretty darn hypocritical for the infamously homophobic Falwell family.) The Falwells also reportedly flew Granda around in a private jet and even took him to meet Trump. Falwell Jr., meanwhile, has denied the existence of any lurid photos. He told Fox Radio host Todd Starnes there are "no compromising or embarrassing photos" of himself.

"While we have a long-standing friendship with Michael Cohen, we never engaged or paid Cohen to represent us in any legal or other professional capacity, and Cohen did not ever resolve any legal matter on our behalf," Falwell added. "This report is not accurate."
Since the story broke, the internet has been awash in rumors that Granda was somehow involved in the affair.

"Media outlets have been referring to Mr. Granda as a 'pool boy,'" Resnick said. "The term 'pool boy' is being used to demean Mr. Granda, sully his name, and infer negative connotations.

I can't help but wonder if I could claim I had "prayed away the gay" and befriend the Falwells and get my own $1.8 million loan.   On second thought, probably not: ex-gays are a right wing myth and I'm not as young and nice looking as Granda.

The Flagrant Sexual Hypocrisy of Conservative Republican Males

I make a point in many of my posts of highlighting the hypocrisy of Republicans who find themselves embroiled in sex related scandals for several reasons.  First, to point out that with the exception of Anthony Weiner, the scandals almost always involve Republicans, not Democrats.  Second, to underscore the hypocrisy of both those caught in the scandals, but also of those who vote for them.  These voters feign piety yet display a level of hypocrisy that would make the biblical Pharisees blush (e.g., the highest. use of Internet porn is in the Bible Belt; evangelical Christians have the highest divorce rate, etc.).  In the wake of "family values", "pro-life" Republican Tim Murphy's decision to resign his seat in Congress after being caught in an abortion scandal, a column in the New York Times offers a welcomed compilation of a number of Republican hypocrites.  Here are excerpts:

The most recent culprit in the category of anti-abortion double-think is Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican who on Thursday announced he would resign from his House seat this month. Two days before, Mr. Murphy had voted for a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks on the medically dubious grounds that, at that age, a fetus can experience pain. 

Then The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published texts revealing that when Mr. Murphy’s mistress thought she was pregnant, he urged her to consider an abortion.

Sound familiar? Perhaps Mr. Murphy’s story calls to mind the Tennessee congressman Scott DesJarlais, who is similarly pro-life in the streets, pro-choice in the sheets.

In 2015, Mr. DesJarlais voted in favor of a 20-week ban, and boasted of a “100 percent pro-life voting record” while in Congress. Meanwhile, The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that he supported his ex-wife’s decision to have two abortions (no word on how far along she was) and encouraged a patient with whom he was having an affair to terminate her pregnancy as well. Like Mr. Murphy, he is a co-sponsor of the abortion bill that passed on Tuesday. It’s a child, not a choice, abortion opponents tell us. Unless the pregnancy is embarrassing and super-inconvenient and an impediment to your political future, in which case it’s merely a clump of cells.
 The double standards employed by some members of the “do as I say, not as I do” Christian right are nothing new. Show me a senator who votes against gay marriage, and, at least in one infamous case, I’ll show you a guy who’s soliciting same-sex encounters in the airport men’s room. (Hello there, Larry Craig!)

Show me another Republican senator who made his name as a “pro-family advocate” and I’ll show you a guy whose phone number showed up in a Washington madam’s little black book. (Howdy, David Vitter!)

Show me the far-right speaker of the House, a man with perfect scores from the National Right to Life Committee and the Christian Coalition, and I’ll show you a guy who, as a high-school wrestling coach, set up a chair in front of the boys’ shower the better to ogle his protégés, and who was eventually jailed as a serial child molester. (Dennis Hastert, come on down!)

We’ve been down this road of duplicity before. The televangelist who prayed, alongside his wife, for the return of traditional morals, admitted to having sex with — and was accused of rape by — a 21-year-old church secretary, and found to have paid her $279,000. The congressman who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act was sexting with his underage male pages.

Scandals roll by so frequently that there is, by now, an expected script: the shocking revelation, the tearful confession, the up-from-the-ashes reinstatement plea or re-election campaign, garlanded with declarations of “God/my wife/Willie Robertson, star of ‘Duck Dynasty’ has forgiven me, why can’t you?” Perhaps the most shocking part of Mr. Murphy’s story is that he elected to quit, rather than scream “Fake news!” or sit back and wait for a new story to eclipse his hypocrisy, as Mr. DesJarlais did.

But what Mr. Murphy’s moral flexibility ultimately reveals is that, for these particular hard-line anti-abortion politicians, it’s not about fetal pain or the sanctity of life. It’s all about control — whether you’re telling a woman she can’t have an abortion, or forcing a woman to get one.

To this list we need to add former Virginia 2nd District Congressman Ed Schrock who voted anti-gay in Congress and meanwhile was seeking gay sex trysts.    Of course, there are even more than could be added to the list besides Schrock.

Cavalcade of Hypocrisy - Anti-Gay Politicians/Church Leaders Exposed as Gay

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Does Marco Rubio Have a Secret Gay Past?

A piece by journalist Wayne Madsen has begun widely circulating on Facebook that looks into Marco Rubio's alleged gay past.  Madsen has a controversial past in the field of journalism and some will likely dismiss the article.  Right wing hit piece or not, the article does raise some questions about Rubio's questionable past associations.  At least some LGBT blogger friends with South Florida ties believe the allegations could be true and will be seeking to verify the claims. From an e-mail exchange, Mr. Madsen has given me permission to quote from his piece which can be found here.   Interestingly, he knew about my involvement with outing former Congressman Ed Schrock.   

Given the long list of closeted Republicans who have been outed or arrested for gay sex solicitation (and the recent Grindr catch of a Virginia Republican), Rubio hiding a secret past is not outside the realm of the possible.  If the stories are true, one has to wonder how Rubio expected to keep his past a secret, especially were he to win the GOP nomination.  Also, if the stories are true, it would explain the stridency of Rubio's anti-gay rhetoric.  stridency.  The closet cases always seem to think that being  loudly anti-gay somehow will keep the truth from catching up with them.  

Towleroad is also reporting on the piece.  Here are highlights:

The post, by columnist Wayne Madsen published at Public Intelligence Blog, claims that “Marco Rubio was, as a high school and college student, known to be a very extroverted homosexual in both South Beach in Miami, a popular gay area, and at college in Gainesville, Florida.”

The piece contains an alleged photo of Rubio (at top) in 1989 “dancing and singing in a South Miami troupe that combined the Chippendales with The Village People.”

There is one piece of Madsen’s story that is accurate: “In 1989, a year before Rubio was arrested with his friend Angel Barrios and another unidentified male friend in Alice Wainwright Park in south Miami, ostensibly for drinking beer in a car after closing time in a park known as a pickup locale for gays.”

The Miami New Times wrote about this incident last week, though Barrios, who was linked to Miami’s most infamous gay porn case, denies that both he and Rubio are gay:

Decades after his legal run-in with Rubio, Barrios was associated with perhaps the most notorious gay porn ring in Miami history, an Edgewater house full of models with names like “Khali Kreme” and “Sincere Luv” who had sex all day in front of dozens of webcams. Couple that with the fact that the park where Rubio was arrested was a well-known gay cruising spot and lurid rumors — with no basis in documented fact — have blown up all this week on the internet, eagerly stoked by Donald Trump supporters casting Rubio as a closeted homosexual. 

Right-wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones devoted a five-minute segment to the allegations yesterday, while posts on the claims have been heavily upvoted on a Reddit page for Trump supporters.

“I have nothing against gay people, but this is just so far from the truth,” says Barrios, who laughs out loud at the idea of having had a sexual relationship with Rubio. “I have kids, and now they’re reading all this garbage online. It’s insane.”

In any case, it appears that the right has gone full throttle behind-the-scenes on bringing down Rubio as a closeted gay, with more than just cha-cha heels.

I love the statement that having children makes one somehow assuredly straight.  The number of married men in heterosexual marriages on Craigslist or Grindr looking for gay sex is huge.   

Dennis Hastert Was Being Blackmailed Over Gay Sexual Abuse

Damn!  The family values Republicans just can't seem to stay out of sex abuse scandals.  Especially gay sex scandals.  According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was being blackmailed over gay sexual abuse dating back to his high school coaching days.  That's why he was hiding money being moved from bank accounts in violation of federal regulations.  If the story is true, one has to wonder why the Hell Hastert ever became a "family values" Republican with this kind of potential time bomb from his past.  I guess I will never understand the mindset of these folks.  Here are highlights from the Los Angeles Times:

Indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was paying an individual from his past to conceal sexual misconduct, two federal law enforcement officials said Friday.

One of the officials, who would not speak publicly about the federal charges in Chicago, said “Individual A,” as the person is described in Thursday’s federal indictment, was a man and that the alleged misconduct was unrelated to Hastert’s tenure in Congress. The actions date to Hastert’s time as a Yorkville, Ill., high school wrestling coach and teacher, the official said.

It goes back a long way, back to then,” the source said. “It has nothing to do with public corruption or a corruption scandal. Or to his time in office.”  Thursday’s indictment described the misconduct “against Individual A” as having “occurred years earlier.”

Asked why Hastert was making the payments, the official said it was to conceal Hastert’s past relationship with the male. “It was sex,’’ the source said. The other official confirmed that the misconduct involved sexual abuse.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million in apparent hush money to the individual, then lied to the FBI when asked about suspicious cash withdrawals from several banks.
The stunning indictment of the longtime Republican powerhouse alleged he gave about $1.7 million in cash beginning in 2010 to the acquaintance.

According to the seven-page indictment, Individual A met multiple times in 2010 with Hastert but brought up the allegations of past misconduct during at least one of the meetings. During that discussion and later meetings, Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to Individual A to conceal the wrongdoing, the indictment alleged.

From June 2010 to April 2012, Hastert made 15 withdrawals of $50,000 each from bank accounts he controlled and paid Individual A that cash about every six weeks, according to the charges.
After bank representatives questioned Hastert about the withdrawals in 2012, he began illegally structuring the cash withdrawals in increments less than $10,000 to evade bank reporting requirements, the indictment said.

When questioned by the FBI about the withdrawals last December, Hastert, who as speaker was once second in line to take over the Oval Office if the president was incapacitated, said he was trying to store cash because he didn't feel safe with the banking system, according to the charges.
"Yeah ... I kept the cash. That's what I'm doing," Hastert was quoted as saying to the agents.

Adding to the now swirling speculation, Towleroad has this:

Wrote liberal blogger Wayne Madsen at the time:

"There is also much focus on the relationship between House Speaker Dennis Hastert and his chief of staff, 56-year old Scott Palmer. Hastert and Palmer, Hastert's longtime unmarried adviser, live together in a DC townhouse along with Hastert's Deputy Chief of Staff, Mike Stokke, while Hastert's wife Jean lives in Yorkville, Illinois and stays at a hotel when she visits Washington."

As the husband would say, you can't write stuff this good.  Former Virginia 2nd District Congressman Ed Schrock's use of Mega Phone for hook ups pales in comparison!  How many other closeted Republicans are out there waiting to get outed - or indicted?

Did CBS Journalist Just "Out" Homophobic GOP Rep. Aaron Schock?

While some in the LGBT community disagree with me, I am strongly in favor of outing closeted Republicans who vote against LGBT people and our equality under the nation's civil laws.  That's why I assisted Michael Rogers in "outing" former GOP Congressman Ed Schrock (pictured at right) who represented Virginia's 2nd District.  Schrock had one of the most anti-gay voting records in Congress yet was secretly seeking gay trysts.  The hypocrisy was stunning.  Now, CBS anchor Itay Hod has seemingly "outed" Republican Congressman Aaron Schock on the grounds of hypocrisy as I did with Schrock (it's ironic that the names are so similar). Queerty has details.  Here are highlights:

In a long Facebook post, gay CBS anchor Itay Hod has essentially outed Republican Congressman Aaron Schock on the grounds of hypocrisy. While Hod frames the post as a hypothetical exploration of when outing is appropriate, he provides lots of details and concludes with an ostentatiously “unrelated” link to the 7 gayest Instagram Photos of Aaron Schock from 2013. 

Hod is clearly fed up with Schock and perhaps just as much with his colleagues in the media who knowingly play along with closet cases.

what if you know a certain GOP congressman, let’s just say from Illinois, is gay… and you know this because one of your friends, a journalist for a reputable network, told you in no uncertain terms that he caught that GOP congressman and his male roommate in the shower… together. now they could have been good friends just trying to conserve water. but there’s more. what if this congressman has also been caught by tmz cameras trolling gay bars. now what if you know that this very same guy, the darling of the gop, has also voted against repeal of don’t ask don’t tell, opposed the repeal of doma, is against gay marriage; and for the federal marriage amendment, which would add language to the us constitution banning gay marriage and would likely strike down every gay rights law and ordinance in the country?

Are we still not allowed to out him?

let me ask another question… doesn’t the media have an OBLIGATION to expose his hypocrisy? if he had done something so hypocritical and he wasn’t gay, wouldn’t we demand journalists do their job? but they can’t… because we won’t let them. you’re not allowed to out ANYONE, we tell them.

Schock has long been the subject of rumors about his sexual orientation. He has always claimed he is straight (although his wardrobe is not). Schock didn’t boost his heterosexual cred any by posing for a series of shirtless images showing off his abs for Men’s Health.

Just to show he straight he is, Schock has accumulated an antigay record that ranks with the best of the homophobes. He has opposed marriage equality, protections for same-sex bi-national couples, and repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, just to name a few, earning him a stellar 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign.

At the same time that he’s voting to deny the LGBT community its rights, Schock has, as AmericaBlog points out, created one of the gayest Instagram accounts ever. Although he follows only 71 people on Instagram, one of them is 19-year-old Olympic diver Tom Daley, presumably so that Schock can solicit his views on Midwest agricultural policy. Openly gay conservative Josh Barro tweeted that fact without comment. None is needed.

It will be interesting to see what impact the post will have on Hod  . . . .it will be even more interesting to see what happens to Schock. Sometimes an open secret just stops being secret. If that’s the case, Schock may have a lot of explaining to do, and also a lot of apologizing.

Personally, I hope the GOP base turns on Schock.  He deserves it.

Anti-Gay Rep. Randy Forbes Slammed from Right and Left

This morning I wrote about my increasingly homophobic former classmate, Congressman Randy Forbes, who appears to be attempting to block campaign funding for gay Republican candidates from the National Republican Congressional Committee.  Forbes motivation?  Obviously, kissing the large bigoted asses of the Christofascist.  And perhaps, in my view, reprising the behavior of former Congressman Ed Schrock.  Since Politico's story hit, Forbes has been getting slammed by both pundits of the right and the left.  On the right, a piece in Bearing Drift, perhaps the leading conservative political blog in Virginia, this statement appeared:

Forbes did himself no favors with his statements: . . . .Notice anything missing? Like say a statement making it abundantly clear that using sexual orientation to disqualify a candidate is a no-no? Me neither, and that’s the problem.

Has the Republican Party of Virginia fallen so far that opposing Bob McDonnell’s tax hike is considered “extreme,” but backroom homophobia is just fine?

Memo to my Congressman: the clock is ticking; I think 24 hours to be sufficient for a much needed clarification. Likewise for the newfound “moderates” who make up the Bolling faction (as it were) of the the RPV: you have 24 hours to practice what you preach, condemn this behavior (if you don’t think Forbes actually did it, you can feel free to blast the concept without touching him), and show me this is about more than giving yourselves cover for tax increases.

The left has been equally brutal.  Here are highlights from a statement by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Virginia Congressman Randy Forbes is back in the news. We last wrote about Forbes in October when he was set to fundraise for an anti-gay hate group, the American Family Association (AFA). Now he’s pushing to deny money to gay Republican candidates for Congress – because they’re gay. Unfortunately for Forbes, his anti-gay bigotry is undercutting his effort to become chair of the powerful House Armed Services Committee.

We were hopeful that his decision to skip the hate group event signaled a shift away from anti-gay bigotry. We were wrong.
Forbes, sadly, has a long track record of bigotry, and his latest efforts fit nicely into a career of denying civil rights to LGBT Americans. As Zack Ford points out at ThinkProgress, he argued in 2007 that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prevent LGBT Americans from being fired for their sexual orientation, would “destroy the institution of marriage.” He also supports a constitutional amendment to overturn state laws allowing same-sex marriage and introduced legislation that would allow businesses with a religious affiliation to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

As we’ve noted in the past, Forbes has worked closely with the AFA and appeared numerous times on its radio shows, including with Tony Perkins and homophobe-in-chief Bryan Fischer. One of the first videos on his official YouTube channel, posted in 2008, is an AFA special called the “War on God.”

Forbes’ close relationship with the AFA renders him unfit to chair the committee that oversees America’s modern military. After all, this is a group whose chief spokesperson and head of public policy – Bryan Fischer – argues that we must “bring to an end the practice of putting women in the military” and “stop the practice of allowing Muslims to serve in the U.S. military.”
Forbes can’t be held responsible for every bigoted thing that comes out of Fischer’s mouth, but he has gone out of his way to work with the AFA – more than perhaps any other member of Congress. He has made it clear that he will use every bit of leverage he has to undermine equal rights. He has no place dictating policy for our military.

   Actions have consequences and I hope Forbes' bigotry ends up biting him in the ass big time.

Cuccinelli Asks Supreme Court to Uphold Virginia's Sodomy Statute

Ken Cuccinelli's gubernatorial campaign claims that Cuccinelli, a/k/a Kookinelli, is focused on jobs and issues that matter to most Virginians.  You'd never know that based on his request filed today for the U. S. Supreme Court which struck down for a second time recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, the most conservative Circuit Court of Appeals in America (it was struck down the first time by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 that ruled a similar Texas statute to be unconstitutional).  

In his ludicrous explanation for his appeal, Kookinelli claims that the sodomy statute is key to prosecuting sex crimes even though numerous other statutes give prosecutors plenty of bases for prosecuting wrongdoers.  No what's special about the sodomy statute is that it criminalizes any form of sex that isn't engaged in via the so-called missionary position.  It is part and parcel with the Christofascist agenda that sex should never be enjoyable and certainly should never depart from their rigid - might we also say frigid if we think of sodomy statute supporter, Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation? - views that sex is only for procreation and one had better not like it.  The other reason Kookinelli lusts to keep the sodomy statute on the books is that it imposes far higher penalties on "deviant" sex crimes than the rest of the panoply of laws available to prosecutors.  Here are details from the Virginian Pilot on Kookinelli's appeal (which will no doubt send the far right crowd into near orgasms since they can't have them during sex):

Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Virginia's anti-sodomy law, arguing that a lower court misinterpreted the scope of the justices' 2003 decision invalidating a similar law in Texas.

In a 2-1 decision in March, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared that Virginia's law against oral and anal sex is unconstitutional. [The 4th Circuit also refused Kookinelli's request for a rehearing en banc]

Virginia's so-called "crimes against nature" law was the basis for a 47-year-old man's conviction of criminal solicitation for allegedly demanding oral sex from a 17-year-old girl. In the appeal, Cuccinelli claims the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision applied only to sex acts involving consenting adults, not those between an adult and a minor.

Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said she was disappointed that Cuccinelli chose to appeal the ruling.  "I think that's a waste of the state's resources," she said. "By appealing, he's trying to breathe life into a law that is clearly unconstitutional."

The appeals court's ruling came in the case of William Scott MacDonald, who was convicted of violating a Virginia law making it a felony for any adult to order a person under age 18 to commit a felony. MacDonald claimed his conviction for that offense was improper because the underlying felony was based on an unconstitutional law. The appeals court agreed.

Gastanaga said that rather than appeal the 4th Circuit's decision, Cuccinelli should work with the General Assembly to draft a constitutional law protecting older minors.

The decision to appeal is certain to provide campaign fodder for Democrats who already have accused Cuccinelli and his GOP ticket mates of pursuing an anti-gay, socially divisive agenda.

And lest we forget how virulently anti-gay Kookinelli is (despite persistent rumors that, gasp, he may have violated the sodomy statute himself in the past) , the Virginian Pilot also reports on Cuccinelli's brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the gay marriage case to be decided tomorrow.  Here are story excerpts:

Cuccinelli led a group of 19 Republican attorneys general in filing a 55-page brief with the court in late January opposing legal recognition of gay marriage. In one passage, their brief seeks to undermine the notion that if same-sex couples can be parents, they should also be legally allowed to get married:

"Responsible parenting is not a justification for same-sex couple marriage, as distinguished from recognition of any other human relationships. It is instead a rationale for eliminating marriage as government recognition of a limited set of relationships. Once the natural limits that inhere in the relationship between a man and a women can no longer sustain the definition of marriage, the conclusion that follows is that any group of adults would have an equal claim to marriage."

Kookinelli is a flaming asshole and, based on the rumors that come my way, a hypocrite.  My offer stands: If someone will come forward with reasonable proof that Kookinelli is another Ed Schrock or Larry Craig and sign a sworn affidavit affirming the information, I will happily do all I can to take his sorry ass down.  If you don't believe me, ask Ed Schrock or former "ex-gay" poster boy Michael Johnston, if you can find either of them.   All it will take is believable evidence and a detailed sworn affidavit.

 

More Outings of Closeted Gay GOP Members of Congress Coming?

I hold closeted gay elected officials who cast anti-gay votes in Congress in almost as low esteem as I do "ex-gay" charlatans who work to keep the "ex-gay" myth alive and cause untold torment and suicides in the process.  Some argue against outing elected officials whining that coming out or not is the closeted individuals decision.  I'm sorry, but these people are casting votes that harm my personal life and discriminate against me and other gays.  If the closet case cause harm to others by their votes, then in my book they have placed a huge target on their backs.  My blogger friend Mike Rogers holds similar views to mine and we worked together (I first tipped off Rogers about Schrock) to expose the hypocrisy of former Virginia GOP Congressman Ed Schrock (pictured above) who had a virulently anti-gay voting record in Congress.  Now, Rogers says he has his sights on other closet cases.  Here are details from U.S. News:

Michael Rogers, a blogger who gained fame in the early 2000s by revealing the sexual orientation of prominent politicians, has largely been dormant since President Barack Obama took office. But Rogers tells U.S. News he's gathering evidence for what could be another big revelation.

Rogers sees himself as a reporter focused on political hypocrisy, and to establish his credibility he points to a track record of accuracy and the fact that he's never been sued.

"There's a big difference between outing and reporting. I'm a reporter, I report on hypocrisy," Rogers told U.S. News. "If I have one case that's off, I'm out of the business, [but] I will never be sued for what I do because I'm right."

The blogger said he currently knows of three "anti-gay" members of the U.S. House of Representatives who are themselves gay. Rogers refused to say when he might disclose information on these members or what might provoke such a revelation, maintaining that as a journalist he holds some cards close to the vest.

But Rogers said he's about to get his hands on concrete evidence that one "anti-gay" member of the House of Representatives engages in gay sex. "Oh, it's going to happen because it has been happening for a long time," he said.

The blogger's most high-profile triumphs include the 2004 revelation that then Rep. Ed Schrock, R-Va., was leaving voicemails on a gay hook-up service, prompting the two-term congressman to retire. In October 2006 he wrote that three men informed him they had sex with then Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, in bathrooms at Union Station. Before making his allegations against Craig public, two of his three sources signed affidavits saying they would come forward if Rogers was taken to court.

In August 2007 the political and comedic worlds went wild with news that Craig had quietly pleaded guilty to charges for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover cop in a Minnesota airport's restroom. Rogers said he was "vindicated 500 percent" after Craig's arrest was made public.

Hypocrites need to be exposed.  I have no sympathy for them.  I was in the closet for many years, but I never actively worked to harm other gays.   Towleroad also has coverage and the comments are great - I love the speculation about Eric Cantor.  Ken Cuccinelli is another one that I'd like to see outed.

It’s Time to "Out" Lindsey Graham

John Aravosis has a timely post at America Blog that calls for and investigation of Senator Lindsey Graham and "outing: him.  I agree wholeheartedly with John.   There is no reason why closeted gay politicians who daily harm normal gays who are simply trying to go about live their lives should be given any deference.  Their hypocrisy is disgusting and, in my view, they need to pay a price for the evil they are doing to other.  That's why I contacted Mike Rogers and help set things in motion to out former Virginia Congressman Ed Schrock.  

For background, Schrock had the second most anti-gay voting record in the House and pandered to the Christofascists by making numerous statements about his concerns about gays looking at other service members in the shower.  Meanwhile, he himself was trolling for gay sex and stupidly met a guy I knew who immediately called me.  When I  confronted Schrock's office, Schrock called me himself on his cell phone and then I received threats from his staff.  I don't doubt that Graham is engaging in similar conduct.  Therefore, he needs to be outed - the sooner, the better, although waiting until the GOP is locked into him as the party nominee has a sense of deliciousness to it as well.  Here are highlights from John's post:

It’s time to finally out Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).  Graham has had it coming for a while now. Not because he’s a Republican. But because he’s an anti-gay Republican. And while it’s one thing to be gay and a closet case, it’s quite another to be a hypocrite, an anti-gay gay, someone who uses his power to harm others in the name of morality, all the while knowing secretly that he is one of the others.

In this case, Graham’s hypocrisy that broke the camel’s back is immigration reform. I have it on good authority from someone intimately involved in the immigration reform process that Lindsey Graham is the central reason that the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would help stop the forced deportation of foreign-born gay spouses, is being blocked from being added to the immigration bill. While other Senators might be bluffing about their opposition to addressing the immigration needs of gay binational couples in immigration reform, I’m told Graham isn’t bluffing.

The obvious question arises as to why Graham is holding gays hostage in the immigration bill. 
One theory is that UAFA is Graham’s legislative beard. A beard is a woman a gay man socializes with in order to throw off suspicions that he’s actually gay. In this case, the theory goes, Lindsey Graham is using UAFA in order to throw off the suspicions of the Tea Party voters back home who are challenging him in a high-profile primary. Their suspicions are that: A) Graham is a liberal; and B) he’s gay.

Graham’s support for immigration reform is hardly helping him dispel the closet liberal image.  But his opposition to UAFA, the theory goes, is a two-fer: It let’s Graham oppose something, anything, related to immigration reform (his support for the measure has been a thorn in his side with the far-right back home), and it has the added benefit of bashing gays.

Lindsey Graham voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, because he believed that gays should not be serving in the US military.   .   .   .   .   The question facing us is not whether you or I think Lindsey Graham’s sexual orientation is relevant to a public policy debate.  The question confronting us is whether Lindsey Graham thinks one’s sexual orientation is relevant, and he does.  So by the Graham Standard, America deserves to know if Air Force Reserve Colonel Lindsey Graham is gay.

I don’t know if Lindsey Graham is gay.  But I’m having a difficult time believing that he’s straight (and I’m clearly not the only one). And what’s more, he seems to be having a difficult time proving it, or even explaining it.

Lindsey Graham decided long ago that one’s sexual orientation was fair game for politics, then so be it.  It’s time someone did an in-depth investigation of whether Lindsey Graham is gay, straight, or asexual, because under the Graham Standard, America has a right to know.

I agree with John 100%.  Graham needs to be outed if he's gay.

Palmetto Queen, Lindsey Graham Bashes Gays

The hypocrisy of likely closeted GOP queens seems to have no limits.  A case in point, South Carolina's 57 year old,  totally not-gay, never been married U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.   Isn't it funny how the loudest homophobes - think former Congressman Ed Schrock, former Senator Larry Craig, and of course Ted Haggard - always seem to be the ones caught soliciting or engaging in gay sex on the down-low or in public rest rooms.  A piece at The New Civil Rights Movement looks at the anti-gay bullshit spouted by the Palmetto Queen yesterday.  Here are highlights:

Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham last night used polygamy and murder to define the boundaries of the “debate” on same-sex marriage, just as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia used murder and bestiality to define the area of debate in which same-sex marriage should exist.

Invoking issues like murder, bestiality, and polygamy is offensive and wholly facetious, and ”facile,” as Piers Morgan responded. Senator Graham also blamed the media for the public’s embrace of marriage equality, and — when all was said and done — stated he believes the states should have the right to decide who marries and who does not, especially because in his home state of South Carolina, religion is the reason “we’re not going to change the definition of traditional marriage.”

Graham, who says the media paints LGBT people as funny, charming, and kind” — as if that’s problematic — says he doesn’t “hate,” he just feels “traditional marriage” is “best for society,” and challenged CNN host Piers Morgan to pass a constitutional amendment if he wants same-sex couples to be able to marry. Morgan attacked Senators Graham, McCain, and Lieberman as “unAmerican” for their views on marriage equality.

It’s time for more people to have the good sense to take the tone and approach of Princeton freshman Duncan Hosie, who this week won accolades for personally speaking  up — in the same room — to Scalia for his usage of murder, bestiality, and other inappropriate references when discussing the right of same-sex couple to civil marriage.

One can only hope that like Schrock, Craig and Haggard,  Graham will ultimately be "outed" and his rank hypocrisy exposed for all to see.

Azariah Southworth: Why I outed a Christian Star

I have long advocated "outing" Christianist and Republican figures who disseminate an anti-gay message while seeking or engaging in gay sex themselves.  For me, it's all about exposing lies and hypocrisy.  If individuals want to torture themselves and live a lie, that's their personal choice.  But the second they start preaching or voting against LGBT individuals while living a lie, then they have placed a bull's eye on their own backs and deserve whatever they receive.  Yes, it's a harsh approach, but these individuals are damaging lives while being liars and hypocrites.  And for that, they deserve to be exposed for the frauds that they are.  In keeping with this view, I helped Mike Rogers expose former Congressman Ed Schrock from the Virginia 2nd congressional district - who had the second most anti-gay voting record in the House at the time - for the fraud that he was.  Did I feel guilt and remorse at times since I knew Schrock personally?  Most definitely.  But I believed an even bigger evil would be wrought if Schrock was not exposed and he was allowed to continue to damage LGBT lives as he secretly sought out gay sex trysts on the side.  Thus, I identify with Azariah Southworth (pictured above at right) who recently outed evangelical writer Jonathan Merritt (pictured above left), son of the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention.  A piece in Salon by Azariah looks at how and why he felt compelled to out Merritt.  It's worth a read and here are some highlights:

Ever since I outed an up-and-coming evangelical leader named Jonathan Merritt on my blog on July 23, one sentence has been running through my mind: I might have destroyed his life.

It’s not all the angry emails that made me doubt myself – although some have been wildly disapproving. One, from a longtime supporter, said, “Your actions are arrogant, insensitive, and nothing more. There is nothing brave, honorable or noble about what you’ve done. I am parting ways from you ashamed of you and what you have become.” Others called me a self-promoter and a bully. But their criticism is not what bothers me. As RuPaul once said, “What people say about me behind my back is none of my business.”

No, what bothers me, what overwhelms me with guilt, is the concern for what I’ve done to a person I care about. But then I think of how hypocrisy must be exposed. And I think of this: The truth sets you free.

Jonathan and I exchanged a few emails, and a year later, in April 2010, we exchanged phone numbers. One night, we started text messaging one another. At this point, I perceived Jonathan to be a heterosexual male. Male he was, but not heterosexual. Jonathan’s text messages became flirtatious, and I became confused.

By the end of the night my lips were raw and chapped from his unshaven face. I felt a little dirty and used, but more than anything I felt bad for him. I knew the guilt that would ensue for him. I’ve been there. It’s so freeing when you connect with another gay person before you’re “out” but when it’s over, you reenter that world of secrets and lies. You’re surrounded once more by the immense social pressure to look and act a certain way within your faith community. Being gay makes you feel so alone. It makes you feel like you don’t belong, like you’ll never escape the torment and spiritual violence imposed on you by bad and broken theology.

Outing Jonathan was not an easy decision. I mulled it over for more than a year and discussed it with friends. Those conversations always ended in, “Yeah, it’s probably not a good idea.” So, what changed my mind?

I was tired of the lies. I was tired of hearing Jonathan say that being gay is not “God’s best.” Meanwhile he enjoys the company of men. Jonathan’s approach to LGBT people and issues may be less extreme than that of the late Jerry Falwell, but in the end the results and message are the same: Your sexual orientation is a sin and you need to change with God’s help. It’s all lies — and the conversation not only needs to change but the leaders as well.

I’m tired of my humanity as a gay man being invalidated by hypocritical leaders like Jonathan, who then expect my support in return.

But I do feel conflict. I do feel a sense of guilt. And that’s because I do have one regret, which is not discussing it with Jonathan first. That was wrong of me. If I had to do this all over again, I would have contacted him first and then decided how to handle the situation from there based on his reaction. (Merritt has admitted in an interview that “we had physical contact that went beyond the bounds of friendship.”)

Outing a person is complex. There is no blanket formula for how and when and why to do it. I don’t think it’s right in every situation. If someone is in the closet and they’re not making an effort to demonize LGBT people, then I say, leave them alone. But if someone is using a public platform to discuss these issues, and doing that while hiding behind a false identity that ultimately destroys the foundation of the arguments they’re making, then, yes, a full disclosure of that person’s false identity is in order

I recommend reading the rest of the piece.  In the instance of Ed Schrock - who I knew personally from GOP circles back in my days as a Republican - I did contact Schrock and warn him of what would be forthcoming if the hypocrisy continued.  He even called me on his cell phone from the House of Representatives.  His ultimate response?  I was contacted by his top aide and threatened with serious harm (I have contemporaneous e-mails still in my possession) .  The arrogance and abuse of his office certainly made moving forward with Mike Rogers easier.  But it did not totally take away the sadness from what I set in motion.  Ultimately, it came down to harming one lying hypocritical individual versus perhaps making things better for many.  I chose the hope of helping make a difference for many over the hypocritical individual.  I can relate to what Southworth felt he needed to do.

Louisiana GOP Legislator Seeks to Kill LGBT Studies Program

GOP members of state legislatures seem to look for ways to demonstrate their bigotry and the hate and intolerance that are synonymous with the Republican Party .  Besides the Texas voter ID law addressed in the prior post, here in Virginia we have Del. Bob Marshall always seeking a way to make LGBT Virginians 4th class citizens (in fact, he's admitted that he'd like to drive all gays from Virginia).  Now Louisiana offers up another example of the batshitery and extremism that predominate the GOP.  It seems that the University of Lafayette's decision to offer a minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies is just too much for Congressman Jeff Landry (pictured at left) - who based on folks like Ed Schrock and Larry Craig we can probably safely assume is a self-loathing closet case secretly lusting for some hot gay sex himself.  KLFY-TV 10 looks at Landry's conniption fit over the university's new offering.  Here are highlights:

A recently added minor at the University of Lafayette is causing quite a controversy. Last semester UL became the first university in Louisiana to offer a minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies. Today, Congressman Jeff Landry came out in opposition towards the program. 

In a letter addressed to UL's President, Dr. Joseph Savoie, Landry request that the university eliminate the new program. As a proud alumnus, Landry says he been so grateful of the education he received at UL, but he is concerned if future graduates will be able say the same. 

In the letter Landry ask the program be dropped because quote "it fails to provide an economic benefit to the participants or financial sense for the taxpayer" end quote. 

The University of Lafayette offers around 100 different minors such as African-American studies, Cajun and Creole studies, Latin American studies, and religious studies. According to President Savoie, the LGBT minor did not require budgetary allocations or divert resources from other areas. 

We can only hope that Landry gets caught demonstrating his "wide stance" or using a Mega Phone like service so that his political career can be flushed down the toilet.  

Bishop Eddie Long to Step Away From Pulpit

To my way of thinking, Eddie Long - the young man loving pastor of an Atlanta mega church - is basically a retread of the Ted Haggard story: outwardly preaching conservative anti-gay Christianity and using the pulpit to get rich while lusting after men and playing on the side. It's hypocrisy taken to extreme heights and one of the unfortunate results of men tormented by a toxic religious message that spurns medical, mental health and scientific knowledge in a desperate desire to continue to revere the Bible even as it is increasingly shown to be false on many issue, not the least of which is - as noted in a prior post - that Adam and Eve as depicted in Genesis never in fact existed. Now, after an out of court settlement with young men who claimed that Long had sexual relations with them, Long has announced that he's leaving the pulpit. Part of me might be able to feel sorry for Long except for the act that even while seeking same sex relationships, he continued to publicly preach an anti-gay message. Yes, I was in the closet for years myself. But, unlike Long, I never pushed an anti-gay message or agenda. Here are highlights from the New York Times on Long's announcement:

At the height of his power, Bishop Eddie L. Long would pack tens of thousands of people into his megachurch in the suburbs of Atlanta. With his well-cut suits, passion for Bentleys, and dynamic, accessible style of preaching, he quickly climbed the list of the nation’s most powerful religious leaders.

He built his ministry, which stretches to Kenya and other countries, on a strong message of conservative Christianity that included promises of prosperity and attacks on homosexuality.

But life inside Bishop Long’s home had been crumbling. And on Sunday, members of his dwindling congregation heard news they had been bracing for.

Their charismatic bishop, who in May settled with five young men who accused him of sexual coercion and who has fought a series of other legal battles, said he was temporarily stepping away from the pulpit to try to save his marriage.

The announcement came after his wife, Vanessa Long, 53, filed for divorce Thursday. Friday, she recanted after “prayerful reflection” but later in the day changed her mind and said she did intend to end their marriage of 21 years. They have four children.

[N]ot everyone remains a believer. Valencia Miller, a property manager in Lithonia, said she left the church after the young men who accused the bishop of sexual impropriety came forward. “A lot of us left. I mean, a lot,” she said in an interview Sunday.

Like others, she hopes that Bishop Long turns this temporary break into a permanent one. “The church needs a cleansing,” she said. “I’m real disappointed. He was a man we all looked up to.”

Long settled a lawsuit in which young men claimed that the pastor offered gifts, trips, and emotional and spiritual guidance that eventually led to sexual relations. One of the young men, Maurice Robinson, said in court records that his relationship with Bishop Long began when he was 15 and that on a trip to New Zealand the two engaged in sexual acts.

Support for Bishop Long continues to shrink. Just before the sexual coercion settlement was announced, the Rev. Bernice King, the youngest daughter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., left the church. On Sunday, a small group of antigay, religious protesters stood outside the church urging Bishop Long to step down permanently. They said they planned to return every month until he left.

It truly is all about the hypocrisy. Long preached an anti-gay message while seeking sex with young men. I feel no more pity for him that I do for former Congressman Ed Schrock who I helped Mike Rogers to "out." Long and Schrock both had a choice and they chose to lying hypocrites who preached against gays while seeking gay sex on the sly. It may sound cruel, but both Long and Schrock have gotten what they deserved.

Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli to Announce Run for Governor?

As if the Republican Party of Virginia done enough to Virginia to give the state a bad image among thinking, rational folks, now Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli - who I personally view as clinically insane - plans to run for governor in 2013. The only good news will be that if he announces and follows tradition, Kookinelli will resign from office in early 2013 and we will be rid of him from the AG's office. The bad news is that a major effort will be needed to insure he's defeated in 2013 - a harder task than some might think given the ignorance and bigotry that remain pervasive across rural Virginia and and the out right prejudice, intellectual laziness, and bigotry common in Republican enclaves in suburban areas (the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach and Bob Marshall's district in Northern Virginia are two prime examples). The Washington Post looks at Kookinelli's likely announcement. Here are some highlights:

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013, according to well-placed Republican sources.

Cuccinelli, a tea party hero who garnered national attention for suing the federal government over the health-care law, expects to make a formal announcement after the legislative session in the spring, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about his plans.

For months, the former state senator from Fairfax County had said he was considering running for reelection or against Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) in 2014. But in recent weeks, speculation had turned to a run for governor, possibly setting up a primary race against Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R). Bolling, a social and fiscal conservative who has campaigned on kitchen-table issues, has the endorsement of Virginia’s popular governor, Robert F. McDonnell (R).

He [Cuccinelli] advised public colleges that they could not adopt nondiscrimination policies protecting gay people. And he tangled with academics at the University of Virginia when he subpoenaed some documents related to the work of a former climate scientist.

But Cuccinelli has garnered the most attention for suing the federal government over the constitutionality of the federal health-care overhaul. He won the first round of the suit but lost the second. He appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Political observers say that Cuccinelli would easily win a nomination contest but could have a more difficult time in a general election, where successful Republicans often play down their conservative credentials.

As noted in the article, Kookinelli is outwardly rabidly anti-gay. Yet from time to time I have people advise that Cuccinelli's really a closeted gay who has fooled around with guys in the past like former Congressman Ed Schrock. If those rumors are true, its time for people to come forward with credible proof so that we can end this bastard's political career now and save Virginia from a great deal of grief.