According to the Kansas City Star, GOP Missouri House Speaker John Diehl has been sending sexually charged texts to a female intern. Diehl, who is married, has been at the forefront of the anti-gay agenda championed by Religious Right factions in his state house, even being repeatedly praised by his colleagues for his “moral leadership.”
From Right Wing Watch:
Earlier this year, Diehl and the president pro-tempore of the state Senate filed an amicus brief in defense of the state’s anti-gay-marriage amendment, leading the Missouri Family Policy Council, the state affiliate of the Family Research Council, to praise the speaker “for demonstrating moral leadership and true integrity in standing up for the sacred institution of marriage and the family values of the people of Missouri.” The state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention thanked him for “fighting to defend biblical marriage.”
“Missourians owe a debt of gratitude to Speaker of the House Tim Jones, Senate President Pro Tempore Tom Dempsey and Speaker of the House-designee John Diehl for intervening on behalf of the state in the Jackson County case where state Circuit Judge J. Dale Youngs ruled that 10 same-sex couples married in other states, but now living in Missouri, are entitled to the same benefits as heterosexual married couples,” said Don Hinkle, editor of the Missouri Southern Baptist newsletter The Pathway. “Their action took political courage and they are to be commended for their leadership.”
RWW also pointed out that Diehl co-sponsored a 2012 bill looking to ban gay student groups in public schools.
“Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, 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.” the bill read.
If these latest revelations are true, Diehl will have a hard time justifying his anti-gay voting record as being rooted in a deep sense of “family values.”
Here are a few screenshots of Diehl’s texts below:
See more screenshots at the Kansas City Star. Featured image: AP Photo / Brittany Ruess
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