Well, this is awkward.
Earlier this week, Tennessee state Rep. Bill Sanderson announced his immediate resignation from office amid allegations he’s been maintaining a secret Grindr profile.
The political blog The Dog and Pony Show accused the 59-year-old lawmaker of soliciting sex with men, some of whom were up to 40 years younger than him, throughout his tenure in office.
That wouldn’t be such a big deal except for the fact that, while he was doing so, he also supported nearly ever anti-LGBT bill that made its way to the House floor.
In 2011, Sanderson voted to ban cities from adopting anti-discrimination ordinances protecting LGBTQ people and nullified one already in place in Nashville.
In 2015, he signed on to a resolution denouncing the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality.
And in 2016, he voted in favor of allowing licensed therapists to turn away LGBTQ clients on religious grounds.
For his part, Sanderson has denied ever being on Grindr and claims leaked screenshots of sexts between him and other men are fake. He also says his reasons for resigning are “personal” and have nothing to do with this sex scandal.
But there’s another layer to this story that hasn’t been as widely reported.
As it turns out that, Sanderson has a gay son.
The Dog and Pony Show initially reported that Sanderson has “a gay son with a longterm partner.”
According to the son’s Facebook profile, he lives in Los Angeles and works at the Ace Hotel.
His Instagram page is mostly shirtless photos of himself with other shirtless guys, pool pics, bedroom selfies, pictures at gay bars, and even a photo with Sam Smith.
Now, obviously, Sanderson’s son is in no way responsible for his father’s actions or homophobic beliefs. But it does add a layer of awkwardness to the situation. Because even if Sanderson is telling the truth when he says he’s never had a Grindr profile, he’s still a total a-hole for voting against his own son’s rights.
We can’t imagine what dinner at the Sanderson house must be like.
