MISSOURI: Gay Republican Legislator Comes Out

Well, well! I guess this is why they call Missouri the "Show Me State"! The debate over the "Don't Say Gay" bill took an amazing turn today when a Republican legislator named Zach Wyatt came out of the closet and announced that he is gay and opposes the don't say gay bill (House Bill 2051).

The Advocate reports:

"I am not the first or last Republican to come out," said Rep. Zach Wyatt in the announcement posted on YouTube. "I have just gotten tired of the bigotry being shown from both sides of the aisle on gay issues."

Wyatt disclosed that he had been a victim of school bullying, and he worries for the safety of school children who are now being bullied.

“Students need to feel safe when they go to school and be able to speak to teachers, counselors, and administrators when they are getting bullied," he said. "This bill will make that illegal."

In Missouri, HB 2051 would ensure "no instruction, material, or extracurricular activity sponsored by a public school that discusses sexual orientation other than in scientific instruction concerning human reproduction shall be provided in any public school." One of the bill's sponsors has claimed it doesn't single out homosexuality and instead bans discussion of "any sexual orientation."

By coming out today, Wyatt became the only openly gay Republican state legislator in the country. Does anyone think that he is the only gay Republican state legislator out of the over 6000 state legislators in the country?

How much more explicitly anti-gay bigotry from their party will Republicans allow before they start coming out and acknowledging the truth that sexual orientation is not a partisan issue?