MISSOURI: Anti-Gay GOP House Speaker Resigns In Wake Of Sexting Scandal

Via the St. Louis Dispatch:

Missouri House Speaker John Diehl is resigning from both his leadership position and his legislative seat after acknowledging that he sent sexually charged text messages to a Capitol intern. "For the good of my party, the caucus, and this state, I’m not going to further jeopardize what we have accomplished this year and what can be accomplished in the future," he said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. "Therefore, I will be resigning the position of Speaker of the House and the office of State Representative in a way that allows for an orderly transition.” Diehl, 49, is under fire after revelations that he traded sexually suggestive text messages with a 19-year-old House intern. The Kansas City Star released a story Wednesday accompanied by what the newspaper said were electronic messages between Diehl and the intern. Some of the messages were sexually suggestive.

As I reported yesterday, Diehl was championed by the Family Research Council earlier this year after he filed an anti-gay marriage amicus brief with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. But there's not been a peep from Tony Perkins about his BFF since the sexting scandal broke. Snork! (Tipped by JMG reader TJ)

Married Anti-Gay Missouri GOP House Speaker Busted For Sexting With College Freshman: "I'll Leave You Quivering"

Earlier this year the Missouri affiliate of the Family Research Council celebrated GOP House Speaker John Diehl after he filed an anti-gay marriage amicus brief with the Eighth Circuit Court. Today the FRC is very, very quiet after the opposite-married Diehl was busted for sexting with a barely legal college intern. Via the Kansas City Star:

The conversations unveil a flirty rapport and suggest an intimacy between arguably the state’s most influential lawmaker and a young woman taking some pleasure in a secret association. The texts show occasional efforts by Diehl and the intern to meet in person. They range from mundane chatter, about boring meetings and dreading speeches, to the more sexually suggestive. Diehl declined to comment. The intern, who has hired an attorney specializing in employment matters, told The Star that the text messages were not real. Meantime, she has told confidants that she had an ongoing relationship with Diehl. Multiple sources helped The Star confirm that the screenshots of the texts, which show Diehl’s business cellphone number, originated from the intern’s smartphone. The text conversations also included photographs of each of them. And others who know Diehl well said they recognized the language and tone of the conversations from their own text exchanges with him.

The unnamed freshman attends Missouri Southern State University, which has abruptly canceled its internship program with the state government. Diehl and his wife of 23 years have three children and his eldest son attends West Point. Diehl last appeared on JMG when he sponsored a bill to ban gay-straight alliance clubs in public schools. (Via Right Wing Watch)