Izzoiz.com | Update: Arizona Conservative Sheriff Admits He’s Gay…

Update: Arizona Conservative Sheriff Admits He’s Gay…

02-20-2012 | 1 Comment | Izzoiz

Sheriff Paul Babeu, a Republican candidate for Congress in Arizona, who has been embroiled in a public scandal, admitted he’s gay on Saturday but denied ever threating to have is ex-boyfriend deported in order to keep his sexual orientation a secret.

I watched the entire 45 min press confreance (which you view below) and i must say, i do believe him. He had a kind of no holds bared “this is me whether you like it or not, too bad” attitude which i must say is refreshing and what i always see lacking in public officials who are exposed for being gay and then are begging for your sympathy. Not so with Babeu who speaks like the politician he is planing to become.

I thought that colleagues and memebers of Pinal County speaking on his behalf, all in support of him by the way, gave great comments and everyone expressed that sexual orientation is the least intersting thing about him and does not and should not play a part in determing who some one is. I thought it was a great message for the kids (especially gay) and adults in Arizona, which is not exactly a gay friendly state, to hear.

It was not clear how many of the colleagues knew of Babeu’s sexual orientation before this scandal broke, however a man of his age and not in a relationship with a woman tends to leave little doubt about his sexual orientation in peoples minds, whether spoken or not.

Like i said, i believe Babeu’s comments and it’s not because he is a cutie although it helps! However his thoughts on gay marriage and his republican aspirations is where I find fault. He states in the presser below that gay marriage should be left up to the states to decide and should not be done by our government. He is completerly wrong. Marriage is not about religion it is about equal rights and protections. That you only get in this country if you are married. Babeu was playing his conservative side on this one hoping to keep republican voters.

I did not like his comment on DADT. Babeu severed in the military for 20 years. He said that anyone who wants to put on that uniform and serve our country should have the right. Which is more like a general statement, not outright saying that someone should not be discharged for their sexual orientation. Again playing the republican politician card.

Babeu was on Mitt Romney’s campaign board in Arizona but has since removed himself. I have a big problem with any gay person who supports a candidate who believes you should be a second class citizen. And the argument that “it’s not all about the gay issue”, is bullshit. Yes the economy, jobs, foreign policy and other things are important as well. But human civil rights are MOST important and any gay person supporting a politician who believes you should not have the same rights, is wrong.

“I am here to say that all of these allegations that were in one of these newspapers are absolutely, completely false,” he said during a news conference, “except for the issues that refer to me as being gay. Because that’s the truth, I am gay.”

After they broke up, Babeu said he got a lawyer because Jose was holding hostage passwords to his social media accounts and other parts of his official online identity — which the Phoenix New Times reported as part of its story about the supposed deportation threat. Bebau also did not dispute the newspaper’s discovery of a photo of him in his underwear on a gay dating site. Jose told the newspaper it was that profile that led to his realization the sheriff was cheating on him.

“This is 20-plus years that I’ve had numerous people that would threaten this to me, to expose me, to go to my chain of command even in the military and report this and have done so,” he said. “This whole rumor, this whole idea about who I am in my private life has been shopped around, and I believe an overwhelming majority of the you standing here today in the media not only have known this, that information has been brought to your attention by numerous sources.”

In a past interview with FOX News, Babeu reported that he was a victim of sexual assault by a priest when he was a child:

“I was a victim of sexual assault when I was a young boy and actually by a priest back in Massachusetts, and that was something that had a dramatic impact on my life,” he told the Fox station, which was doing a profile on him. “Having leaders within the church cover it up and lie about it really awakened my sense of truly the world and what’s right and what’s wrong and how some people are in positions of great trust and honor sometimes can do bad things.”

via Damage Control: Sheriff Admits He’s Gay | News | The Advocate.