VIRGINIA: Anti-Gay Lawmaker Busted On Grindr, Local Gay Paper Declines to Name Him, Dan Savage Objects

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. A small excerpt:

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.

An editor’s note is at the bottom of the letter:

“Outing” someone is not something to be taken lightly and often comes off as tacky or vengeful. The legislator we’re addressing with this letter has a voting record which would make an openly gay man shake their head in disgust, but he hasn’t been specifically vocal on LGBTQ issues. This is one of the reasons we’re choosing to leave them anonymous, however we hope this message reaches their desk and they’ll consider the words below if and when they have a chance to vote on LGBTQ related bills in the future.

Dan Savage has a problem with this:

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.

(Tipped by JMG reader Christopher)slogva