The Grindr profile of a Republican politician who voted against a gay rights bill has been exposed online.
Randy Boehning is a 52-year-old politician from North Dakota, who voted against a bill granting legal protection against discrimination for homosexuals.
The law was designed to stop employers and landlords discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation.
And now the conservative politician has been outed after a local Grindr user recognised him on the gay hookup app.
Using the profile name “Top Man!”, Boehning had sent 21-year-old Dustin Smith explicit pictures of himself on the app.
Smith contacted the local Fargo paper, The Forum, about their exchange, saying: “How can you discriminate against the person you’re trying to pick up?”
Despite initially denying their contact, Boehning later admitted to the paper the profile was his, and that only a few people knew he was gay, saying: “The 1,000-pound gorilla has been lifted. I have to confront it at some point.”
When asked about sending the picture, the 52-year-old said: “That’s what gay guys do on gay sites, don’t they? That’s how things happen on Grindr. It’s a gay chat site. It’s not the first thing you do on that site. That’s what we do, exchange pics on the site.”
The politician defended his vote against the anti-discrimination bill, saying he didn’t believe his Fargo constituents supported it, and he disagreed with the language that it would protect people who were “perceived” to be gay.
Boehning said: “This has been a challenge for me. You don’t tell everyone you’re going to vote one way and then switch your vote another way–you don’t have any credibility that way.”