Anti-Gay Lawmaker Reportedly at Gay Club Before DUI Arrest

[name not needed]

Source: Fox News

A California state senator who reportedly has voted against every gay rights measure since he took office eight years ago was charged with driving under the influence on Wednesday, reportedly after leaving a gay nightclub in Sacramento.

Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, was spotted driving erratically at about 2 a.m. Wednesday in downtown Sacramento, officials said. He was arrested after taking a sobriety test, and he was taken to Sacramento County Jail, where he was administered a blood-alcohol test prior to being booked and released.

He was charged with two misdemeanors: driving under the influence and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher...

He was arrested after leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento, according to cbs13.com. A male passenger, who was not identified as a lawmaker, was also in the car but was not detained, the TV station reported.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/04/anti-gay-lawmaker-reportedly-gay-club-dui-arrest/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20foxnews%2Fpolitics%20%28Text%20-%20Politics%29

[Divine Discontent]

1. I've been there. There's not a lot of room, and you're constantly rubbing up against each other...

which makes me want to go wash knowing that I've more than likely touched this piece of SHIT.


God cleanse me! LOL Where's the holy water?


I love these asshats getting outed. My thread about the Florida State House guy who claimed he thought the black (undercover officers) were going to hurt him if he didn't perform oral on them got a ton of recs, this should also - let the people see these people who vote against rights for all and who themselves are homosexual! (you don't get to be called Gay until you come out, that beautiful word is for those of us who are not ashamed of who we are)

[LeftyMom]

2. Wow, the Bee story this morning left THAT detail out.

*snort*

edit: The Sacto cops take DUI very, very seriously. And they're not impressed by state senators from Bakersfield. All the bars in town are pretty much in one area (to say nothing of all the gay bars, they're all in shouting distance of each other.) Your chances of getting out of that area on a Saturday night without a cop seeing you are, well, not good.

[Riverman]

3. Gee, I've been in Faces too! Actually got stopped by a Sac Cop

one Sat night when I was giving my out-of-town friend a tour of Sac and Lavender Hill. Had a bite at the Sushi Bar at 16th and J, drove to 21 st Street to go to faces and was pulled over by the Cop. He had me follow-his finger to see if I was drunk - fortunately only had one drink. He said he stopped me because I was driving without my lights on. Opps! He let us go and he was cute. Wonder if he was the same cop who stopped the Repug and nailed him for DUI. How did anyone know he had been at Faces - popular downtown Sac Gay + mixed dance club? Somebody outted the poor sucker! Well, he did have another guy in the car according to the story, right! Laughin my already too skinny ass off!

[LeftyMom]

4. Everybody goes there. Even homophobic Bakersfield Republicans, apparently.

I'm wondering what his cover story is going to be, you know the one about how he totally wasn't there to pick up a guy, because he's not gay, and he's got a wife and kids and he's a churchgoing man and blah blah? It's 2010, so he can't exactly say he stopped to use the pay phone, and he can't say he didn't know it was a gay bar, because it's Faces, ffs. Aliens on other planets know that's a gay bar. Plus there are like 10,000 rainbow flags at that corner.

[name not needed]

6. I guess he was trying to "save" those poor, misguided souls

:D

[webDude]

5. My, how festive!

nt

[Garbo 2004]

7. Local cbs affiliate "broke" the story. Now has video up where West Sac mayor

(who's out) says he's seen Ashburn at local gay bars. He essentially says politicians are entitled to private lives but not public hypocrisy.

The owner of Faces can't confirm Ashburn was there that particular night since the club was packed since they were having a Latin drag queen beauty pageant.

video here: http://www.cbs13.com/video/?id=[e-mail]

[Ian David]

9. Anyone who has not outed this dirtbag earlier is complicit in all their anti-gay votes. n/t

[Garbo 2004]

12. Apparently MSM wouldn't out him saying it was his personal life, despite voting record.

But the DUI gave CBS 13 a "news" basis and they went with it, emphasizing Ashburn's voting record. Queerty cites unnamed source who claims he contacted media about Ashburn last year & after DUI. http://www.queerty.com/meet-the-man-who-outed-ca-sen-roy-ashburn-to-the-media-that-refused-to-report-the-story-20100305/

[Garbo 2004]

8. Bakersfield paper heard rumors last summer that Ashburn was going to be outed by a Sacto

publication and asked Ashburn if he was gay. Didn't publish the interview at the time. Now it has two articles. Ashburn didn't deny or confirm; his position was that it wasn't relevant to his job or voting record. Although he agreed that if he was an anti-gay activist it would be relevant. Despite organizing a 2005 rally against gay marriage, he did not regard himself as activist.

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x379809049/LOIS-HENRY-Ashburn-dodges-gay-question

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x379809007/Report-ignites-debate-over-Ashburns-orientation-gay-rights-voting-record

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. Here's ol' Roy himself --

[and-justice-for-all]

11. Heuchler!!! nt

[KamaAina]

13. Update: Ashburn to take leave

presumably to spend more time with his family. :sarcasm:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/05/BAF01CBFRT.DTL

Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield has taken leave from his elected position until at least Monday, after a drunk-driving arrest here started a firestorm over his sexual orientation....

While there has been no confirmation of Ashburn being at the club that night, some people have told The Chronicle that Ashburn has been seen regularly at gay clubs and bars near Faces. Capitol staffers say it is an open secret that Ashburn frequently visits Sacramento's gay establishments.

Ashburn could not be reached for comment. His staff said they have not had contact with him since the day before the arrest, although the office did release a statement from the senator regarding his arrest that read: "I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did."

[No Elephants]

14. "Am prepared to accept the consequences" Sure, you are. You have no choice at this point.

"In 2004, a reporter with the Bakersfield Californian asked Ashburn directly about his sexual orientation, and the senator said only, "I'm surprised you're asking that," according to the newspaper. A columnist there asked him again last year and he said, "I think there are certain subjects that are simply not relevant and this is one of them. It has no bearing on the job I do."


Typical evasive response. Also totally false. As even Log Cabin Republicans confirm, being a gay Republican makes it highly likely that the voting record will be 100% homophobic, even when a straight Republican might consider voting pro-gay, as with protecting school kids, as follows:



"Ashburn has voted against bills establishing same-sex marriage, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in businesses, and strengthening anti-bullying and harassment protections for gay youth in public schools.

How low is that? Even a CON could have figured out a way to rationalize protecting public school kids, even if it's only on liability grounds.


"Equality California, the state's leading gay rights lobbying organization, has consistently given Ashburn a zero-percent rating in its annual scorecard of lawmakers' votes on gay rights. Geoff Kors, the executive director of Equality California, said Ashburn has "one of the worst records of anyone in the Legislature" on expanding rights for LGBT people."

Charles Moran, spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay Republican organization, said it is common for conservatives who are not out about their sexual orientation to vote against expanding gay rights.

"A lot of people who are closeted homosexuals think it will give them cover, but instead it increases the heat," Moran said.



And so it should.