The Roy Ashburn problem

The Roy Ashburn problem

I’m about to get political on your ass.

If you remember, State Sen. Roy Ashburn was the one that had a DUI and was caught with another dude in his car leaving the gay club “Faces”. That was when the firestorm of bad press started swirling around him. People began to wonder if the “Family Values” Senator, who had a long history of voting down gay rights, was really gay. Now, he has come out of the closet.

I mean this is a gay that has staunchly voted against every gay rights measure, every single one. That is the very definition of hypocrisy. In order to get elected, he would throw his gay community under the bridge. Not only is it hypocrisy, it is cowardly. Ashburn is a coward. It's one thing to keep everyone in the dark about you sexual orientation, but it is a whole new level to vote against your people.

What if a Congressman voted against every civil rights law, but kept the fact that he had black heritage a secret?

He had this to say when he came out. From sfgate, (("Well, I am gay ... Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long. But I am gay, but it is something that is personal. And I don't believe -- I felt with my heart -- that being gay did not affect, wouldn't affect how I do my job. Again, what happened through my own actions the other night changed all that."))

It changes everything. You knew you would have never gotten elected as a gay Senator running on a GOP ticket.

Keep in mind that he is divorced from his wife and has four daughters. Something tells me someone found out about his secret and divorced him, but I'm guessing here. That’s not just staying in the closet, that’s setting up shop in the closet.

But, wait there's more.

((My votes reflect the wishes of the people in my district. And I have always felt that my faith and allegiance was to the people there in the district, my constituents. And so as each of these individuals measures came before the legislature, I cast 'No' votes, usually 'No' votes, because the measures were almost always about acknowledging rights or assigning identification to homosexual persons.))

“Assigning Identifications to homosexual person” like coming out of the closet?

You have the Larry Craig and Mark Foley scandals where “Family Values” people ended up being gay. And, come to find out they usually voted against gay rights laws. And, don’t call this asshole brave for coming out of the closet, because he only did that because he got caught. And, do you think your conservative backers will vote for you again.

Side Note: what a name for a club, “Faces”.