A Brief History Of Antigay Politicians Caught Doing Very Gay Things In Public Restrooms

It’s no secret that Republicans have issues with many things, but there are two things in particular that really seem to keep them up at night: Gay people and public restrooms.

The official Republican platform, adopted earlier this year, defines marriage as “between one man and one woman” and seeks to police which restrooms trans people use in an effort to protect women and children from sexual predators.

Related: Naughtier Than Thou: A Brief History of Antigay Religious Leaders Engulfed In M4M Scandals

Ironically, an alarming number of Republican lawmakers have been caught engaging in gay sex acts in public restrooms over the years. The most recent appears to be Mike Yenni from Louisiana, who was just outed for allegedly sexting with a 17-year-old Catholic school boy then meeting up with him in a mall bathroom for a brief make out sesh.

Just to be clear, we’re not judging these guys for getting frisky in the bathroom. But we’d be remiss not to point out the hypocrisy in their actions.

Scroll down for five Republican lawmakers who’ve been caught acting gay in the bathroom…

Mike Yenni

The 40-year-old “happily married father of one” and local Republican politician from Louisiana was just accused of sexting with a 17-year-old Catholic school boy who he met at a luncheon for graduating seniors in 2015. According to the teen, Yenni and the teen arranged a meeting in a mall bathroom where the lawmaker gifted him a pair of $75 designer underwear then asked him to send him pictures of himself modeling them. Then they made out for a while.

Bob Allen

The antigay Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives was arrested in 2007 after offering to pay an undercover cop $20 for a blowie in a park bathroom. Allen maintained his innocence, insisting that he thought the undercover officer was trying to rob him, and that he only offered to pay to perform the sex act on him because he felt “intimidated” by his large muscles.

Roberto Arango

The married Republican politician who served in the Senate of Puerto Rico made headlines in 2011 after a series of his very revealing bathroom selfies emerged on Grindr. At first, Arango, who opposed same-sex marriage, tried saying he had taken the x-rated pictures to document his weight loss. Then he tried suggesting a rival had hacked into his computer and leaked them as an act of political revenge. Then he finally admitted that, yeah, OK, he had taken them to share with guys on Grindr and, yeah, OK, he was also gay.

Jon Hinson

Here’s one from the history books. In 1981, the Republican congressman from the deep red state of Mississippi was arrested for engaging in oral sex with a young male clerk in the men’s restroom of the House of Representatives. Hinson, who had previously been married to a woman, claimed the incident was the result of “personal turmoil” he was suffering. Shortly thereafter, he resigned from Congress and came out as gay. He devoted the rest of his life to advocating for LGBTQ rights before his death in 1995.

Larry Craig

And then there was Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. In 2007, he was arrested for soliciting an undercover cop for sex in an airport bathroom. After initially confessing to the act, Craig later walked back his statement by famously claiming that he sat “wide stance” when on the toilet and that the officer must have misinterpreted his body language. Not surprisingly, the excuse didn’t hold up in court.

Cut to 2014 when the Federal Election Commission filed a lawsuit against Craig after discovering he had illegally used campaign funds to pay his attorneys during the whole bathroom lawsuit. He was ordered to pay the Treasury $242,535 out of his own pocket. Craig appealed, but in 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, finally bringing the scandal to a close, nearly a decade after the fact.

To this day, Craig insists he has a “wide stance.”