Atlanta lawmaker steps out of the closet
State Rep. Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, has just become the first self-acknowledged gay man in the state Legislature. He stepped out of the closet during a morning press conference.
Georgia Voice has posted the video:
From my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin:
Taylor, in a news conference at the offices of Georgia Equality, said he felt compelled to make the announcement after an e-mail was circulated to state lawmakers this week accusing Taylor of being gay and of using his position in the Legislature to solicit sexual relationships.
Taylor denied the allegations of improper conduct. The author of the e-mail, who signed his name as “J. Callahan,” hung up on a reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and would not provide proof of his claims. Callahan had been instructed by state officials on how to file an official ethics complaint against Taylor, but no complaint has been filed, House Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, said.
Taylor said that the man who sent the e-mail is the former partner of the person Taylor is now dating.
“Although this is not the time or the way that I wanted to come out, I feel actually very lucky, thanks to all the support I’ve received,” Taylor said, surrounded by fellow lawmakers, friends and family. “As a black man, it can be a struggle to find acceptance within the community and at times with myself as well. I’m proud of the man my mother has raised, and I make no apologies for who I am.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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224 comments Add your comment
Lamar
May 27th, 2011
1:33 pm
The gay issue is so last year people. I’m over it.
j
May 27th, 2011
1:33 pm
KEEP YOUR HEAD UP MUCN LOVE
Wahoo
May 27th, 2011
1:33 pm
Why announce it? One reason may be that a threat of revelation no longer can be an attempt to intimidate or influence him.
Wahoo
May 27th, 2011
1:34 pm
Enter your comments here
southern hope
May 27th, 2011
1:36 pm
it should be noted that the only reason he came out with this news is because an anonymous email was going on about it and trying to blackmail him…so he was getting rid of that threat.
george
May 27th, 2011
1:40 pm
a more interesting question is who originated and circulated an email containing personal attacks on an elected official and why this is regarded as an appropriate use of public resources. how about spending some more time investigating why georgia leads the country in bank failures and why farmers are upset because they may have to pay a higher wage since they have fewer undocumented workers to exploit.
Mama Says
May 27th, 2011
1:40 pm
Typical liberal—–everyday wee are told that sexual orientation and skin color should not matter then the next thing we know the same people hold press confrences or some other format in which to proclaim the very facts that we are suppose to ignore in our quest to treat everyone the same.
If you don’t want your preferences used as a point of conversations stop continually telling us what the are !
Buy the way I am straight—now that you know can I use it against you if you do something to me that I don’t like ? Oh wait that dosen’t work for every other person in the world does it ? Just the “special” people who don’t wish it to be an issue.
Absolute hypocrite
Don’t call me gay, call me a news conference that might help me !
Phat Daddy G
May 27th, 2011
1:41 pm
He a chunky gay man, too! He go bout 300 on da hoof…
Of course he a dumbocrap, just like all the local black politicians in ATL.
Dante
May 27th, 2011
1:41 pm
Who said anything about a glory-hole?
Jay Jay
May 27th, 2011
1:43 pm
Can we see the email please? Also, what happened with the glory-hole? Was that at Capitol, or another location?
Notafraid
May 27th, 2011
1:46 pm
Why is it that we have become so forceful about homosexuality being ok. I have never seen so many ads about the lifestyle on mainstream media in my life. As a high school teacher I see how are teens are experimenting with homosexuality like a fad. Im soory Atlanta gay people should be loved and respected however we do not have to agree with that lifestyle. If it is ok to be gay then is it not ok to cheat on your spouse? We have lost the guidelines for life, we have to submit to some kind of spiritual authority to help lead our lives. Why do we separate church and state so much when so many of our laws are derived from it. Quit convincing our kids that this lifestyle is ok just because it feels right. Well so do drugs!!!! Not a gay hater but we stop with the PSA’s
dre
May 27th, 2011
1:46 pm
Anytime you put your private parts where they’re not supposed to be, you SHOULD admit it.
USMC
May 27th, 2011
1:48 pm
Who Cares???
Rashad, GET OVER YOURSELF!
Narcissism 101
flintrock70
May 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
I’m happy for Rashad. All the best!
In His District
May 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
THis guy IS Unethical… we’ve seen nothing change in our area. Who cares if you’re gay…why hold a press conference about your sexuality. Where are the programs in the district, what about the youth, elders, community,… what is going on that you don’t want to have exposed.
Rick
May 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
Admitting the problem is the 1st step and hardest step, now we can work on the rehabilitation process. I call this the healing process. After a few months in my program, he can proudly have a press conference telling everyone that he is a recovering homosexual.
The Ghost of Lester Maddox
May 27th, 2011
1:49 pm
I’m a whole lot more interested in whether he pays his taxes and any ethics penalties….than who he happens to want to sleep with or fall in love with.
If he pays taxes and penalties, then he has one up on a lot of his fellow legislators.
whow!
May 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
we definitely know that to be the truth… and he needs to start doing something for the district.
elaine
May 27th, 2011
1:53 pm
Who csres if he is gay or not as long as he does a good job. These people who try and intimidate him need a life.
HumanBeing
May 27th, 2011
1:53 pm
Guys, I’m a moderate – financial conservative and social moderate – and just even creating an article like this reinforces differences rather than similarities. Is this really a big deal? True acceptance happens when no one takes notice of the differences between us. This article just reinforces them.
Roekest
May 27th, 2011
1:55 pm
Wow! A gay, black dude in Atlanta??? Whoda thunk it?
As far as news goes, this is what’s called scraping the bottom of the barrel. Holidays usually are slow for news…
hsgrad
May 27th, 2011
1:55 pm
Stop the Presses! I Like Antico’s Pizza
4REAL
May 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
THEN WEAR A BRA!
Henry
May 27th, 2011
1:57 pm
Must be a REALLY slow news day. This is not news. This is a big yawn. Who cares expect a bunch of simple little narrow minded fools.
Henry
May 27th, 2011
2:03 pm
@JEWFISH – you are a moron.
You Asked
May 27th, 2011
2:03 pm
So what if he’s openly gay… But this shocker:
“Taylor, who denied the allegation for a long time, was accused of also inappropriately using his office for unethical conduct. He denies that allegation however.”
An Atlanta politician addmitting to being ethical!!! He will lose all credibility with his peers for that.
Last Man Standing
May 27th, 2011
2:04 pm
That was a waste of time and space for a non-story. It is dwarfed, though, by the number of posts trying to decide on how he/she should have worded their “coming out” statement.
Himbo
May 27th, 2011
2:06 pm
I don’t care how he worded his coming out statement as long as he wasn’t speaking with his mouth full.
That would be rude.
john
May 27th, 2011
2:08 pm
His mommy standing next to him was heard saying “Is there a nice Jewish man, maybe a doctor, in the crowd I can adopt that will give me kids that isn’t a Sodomite?”
sloboffthestreet
May 27th, 2011
2:10 pm
And to think I just declared today “NATIONAL HETEROSEXUAL PRIDE DAY.” Sounds like some sort of conspiracy to me!! Leave it to a lawmaker,,,,,
Lady Bug
May 27th, 2011
2:10 pm
yeeks another Gay , they are like roach bugs they just keep coming out
DownLouis
May 27th, 2011
2:17 pm
“The press conference stemmed from an email sent circulated throughout the capitol which accused Taylor of several things, including being gay.”
Accused him of being Gay????? First of all – what does it mean to be accused of being gay? Secondly – who the he!!s business is it anyway?
Kev
May 27th, 2011
2:20 pm
“No problem whatsoever with the guy’s lifestyle, but it just detracts a bit from the “courage” theme that he was deceitful about it”
Is being heterosexual a “lifestyle”? I know all sorts of gay people with all sorts of lifestyles. A lifestyle is if you like to garden, stay at home, ski, etc…
“Not a gay hater but we stop with the PSA’s”
That’s like saying “I’m not prejudiced/racist but…” These people tend to be the biggest haters who are in denial.
reebok
May 27th, 2011
2:21 pm
I couldn’t care less if he’s gay…it’s s total non-issue…but I think it’s a indictment of his character that he denied it for so long. If the above report is accurate, he didn’t avoid the issue or say ‘no comment…’ He lied, which is not such a great thing, IMHO.
Tina
May 27th, 2011
2:21 pm
I mean really, who cares???
jerry
May 27th, 2011
2:23 pm
What a gay does IS their own business. It does not make it any less disgusting to a lot of heterosexuals.
DownLouis
May 27th, 2011
2:28 pm
Have you been in a coma for most of your life JEWFISH? Atlanta has been one of the most “gay friendly” cities for a very long time. Have you ever been to ATL?
dre
May 27th, 2011
2:30 pm
Thank you @jerry
Pragmatist
May 27th, 2011
2:31 pm
I wouldn’t care if ALL Atlanta lawmakers, politicians and council persons were gay if they could do a better job of running the city and state than the current bunch of mostly inept pretenders.
Who cares?
May 27th, 2011
2:31 pm
who cares he is gay? I sure don’t!
DHD
May 27th, 2011
2:33 pm
Slow news day? What’s Lindsay doing? How about Mike Vick? This is all you got? Maybe that’s a good thing.
CARLTON
May 27th, 2011
2:35 pm
gay; yawn. unethical, this I want to know about.
Wow....didn't see that one coming!
May 27th, 2011
2:37 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Goodness it’s NO SUPRISE he is gay! He looks gay! At least he isn’t a hottie! They can have him..hahahahahaha!
dre
May 27th, 2011
2:38 pm
Knowing where he prefers to place his wee_nie helps me understand his agenda and his decision making…sorry, but that’s just the way it is.
Will
May 27th, 2011
2:40 pm
Georgia, stop all this fussing about a gay man and by the way here is your sign: 6th Dumbest State: Georgia
Graduating seniors in Georgia averaged a 1460 on the SATs, placing it in the bottom five nationwide. Approximately 15 percent of the people in the state never graduated from high school, and according to one study in 2008, fewer than half of all students in Atlanta graduated from high school on time. One recent review of state-by-state efforts to reform their education systems did show signs of hope for Georgia, specifically in terms of the quality of its teachers and the level of accountability in the system. However, the state still received terrible marks for the achievements of K-12 students and for school funding.
Minus Clous
May 27th, 2011
2:41 pm
Who cares Jim, really!!!! D#&M
Eli
May 27th, 2011
2:45 pm
Has the news media ran out of things to consider news. I am a heterosexual man, will you make that a news release… With all the high cost of gas, un-employment and crime, why is this news?
Krazy
May 27th, 2011
2:45 pm
I love popcorn and peanuts! Bloop Bloop Bloop!
4xtra
May 27th, 2011
2:46 pm
Gay in Atlanta? Being gay in ATL is the “new” normal.
In Atlanta, If you are a heterosexual you almost look alike an outsider.
I does not matter if he is gay or not….
Just do you job and we are all cool wit that ….
Andre
May 27th, 2011
2:53 pm
What was in the email alleging him of? This pretty sad he was forced to come out the closet by others acting like school yard bullies.