The Problem I Have With Rightwingnut GOP Christian Conservatives, Part One

There are all kinds of places for gay men to find other gay men for a quick hook-up … Craig’s List, Grindr, Scruff, Hornet, Jack’d, VGL, Surge, DaddyHunt, to name but a few. And yet there is one place you might never have thought about: the Republican Party.

I mean, it worked for Wesley Goodman, an up-and-coming Christian conservative family values, anti-LGBT asshat who served in the Ohio statehouse and thought he might, one day, run for the US Congress.

Now? Not so much.

The married Goodman—Good Man, that high-larious—was elected to the Ohio statehouse after working for the Conservative Action Project but this week he resigned his seat after House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger was alerted to Goodman's "inappropriate behavior" with a :::gasp::: man in his state office.

 Goodman released one of those “Oops, I Got Caught” statements:           

"We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life. That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service. For those whom I have let down, I'm sorry."

 No harassment complaints have been filed against Goodman—the other man was not a Statehouse employee or legislative member—and it appears the two men had a consensual “office visit.” Yet after that story broke, so did the dam. Suddenly all kinds of information came out about Goodman’s “double life.” It seems he liked to exchange salacious texts and emails with gay men he met on Capitol Hill, send sexually explicit messages to young men he met through conservative circles, and have sex with other closeted gay Republicans.

One of those men, Johnny Hadlock, met Goodman back in 2010 when Hadlock was a staffer for another GOP congressman; he confided in Goodman that he was a closeted gay man and the two began exchanging racy text messages, though they never engaged in physical sexual acts:

"Wes never sexually harassed me—we both knew what we were doing and we were both fine doing it.”

Hadlock went on to work for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and said he last talked with Goodman in 2014 in private Facebook messages that Goodman initiated when he said his wife was out of town and when she was asleep. In one conversation, Goodman said he was in his underwear and asked if Hadlock was sexually aroused.

And another conservative with Ohio ties—who chooses to remain anonymous … go figure—claims Goodman engaged in predatory behavior toward younger men, sending inappropriate material and propositioning them through text and Facebook messenger. He claimed Goodman would target college kids and offer himself as their “mentor” and many were too scared to report his sexual advances because they didn't want to damage their own careers.

Another former GOP congressional staffer, Chris Donnelly says Goodman replied to a Craigslist post on a board for men seeking men, and the two had a sexual encounter in 2008. In an email account using the name Brady Murphey, Goodman described himself as a "straight/curious" guy who needed to be discreet:

"Maybe we can hang and see what's up, no expectations really, but your post seemed cool so let me know bro." 

Donnelly said Goodman was "all over Craigslist" and responded to several ads posted by Donnelly and other gay men: 

"It became a running joke between me and my gay friends on Capitol Hill. It's not like it was some one-off thing." 

Hadlock and Donnelly now say they reached out with their stories because they were disappointed Goodman would push anti-LGBT policies while secretly seeking out and being intimate with other men, except …

It was back in 2009 when Goodman saw Donnelly at a conservative event to support an Ohio Defense of Marriage act. So, um, yeah, why wait another eight years to speak up? Oh, yeah, because that was when Goodman was caught, perhaps with his pants down. If either of those two men were so adamant about Goodman’s anti-LGBT leanings they would have come forward years ago. But, hey, he’s a closeted gay man sexually harassing college boys so we’ll look the other way because … GOP. It’s that same mentality as those still supporting Roy Moore; as long as he pushes the GOP agenda they can harass young men and fondle young girls.

Donnelly says he warned Ohio Republicans that Goodman's behavior didn't match up with his so-called socially conservative views, and Donnelly shared his information with Kenny Street, political director for the Ohio House Republican Caucus, after Goodman won election in 2016. Donnelly says Street told him he would take the matter to Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and that the caucus planned to confront Goodman. 

That never happened; Rosenberger says he never heard the allegations until this latest Goodman Hook-up, and had not heard allegations about Goodman sending inappropriate messages to younger men at all. So, Kenny Street took this information and did nothing with it because nothing matters more than party to the GOP, to conservatives, to Christians.

And therein lies the issue: the GOP is riddled with self-loathing closeted homosexuals who places ads for hook-ups or tap their feet in airport men’s rooms because they are afraid of coming out; they work tirelessly on anti-LGBT issues to cats aside any doubt that they are Christian conservative family men who only bend over for other guys sometimes when their wives are out of town or are asleep in the other room.

This is the problem I have with Christian conservatives; the holier-than-thou crap; the beating of the Gay Hate Drums so they won’t be found out.

And it isn’t just Republicans in office … stay tuned for Part Two.

Cleveland.com