TN State Sen. Paul "Defender Of Marriage" Stanley Blackmailed For Adultery

Tennessee GOP state Sen. Paul Stanley, the architect of that state's failed ban on gay adoption, went to the authorities to complain that the husband of his mistress was blackmailing him. Boo hoo. Stanley was cheating with a subordinate half his age.

“Unfortunately, I am the victim and a witness to a crime in an ongoing investigation. At this time, I have been advised by authorities and the District Attorney’s office not to comment. There is already misinformation being inferred regarding this matter which I look forward to clearing up at the appropriate time,” Stanley said in a statement. Interesting phrasing. Of course, we don’t know what happened or didn’t happen exactly. All we know that instead of telling the blackmailer that his bluff was called and to do his worst, he called the TBI. Instead of proclaiming his innocence and his martial fidelity on camera to get in front of the story, he hid behind a written statement. While the words in his statement say innocent, his actions say guilty. If Stanley did transgress in any way with this woman, if he put himself in the position to be blackmailed, he should not be sending out statements calling himself a victim. He should not be simply resigning his committee chairmanship. He should be resigning from his seat in the state Senate.

Stanley tried to ban gay adoption in Tennessee by authoring a bill requiring that all adoptive parents be legally married. The state attorney general decided that Stanley's bill was unconstitutional.