Did Dinner With A Male Porn Star Bring Down Minnesota's Gay State Senator?

Openly gay Minnesota state Sen. Paul Koering lost his GOP primary reelection bid yesterday in a campaign that got ugly and personal after Koering was seen dining with a young male porn star.

The race between Gazelka, a former state representative, and Koering, R-Fort Ripley, was notable for its focus on Koering’s personal life, and for efforts by state Republicans — who endorsed Gazelka — to investigate Koering’s past. Koering, Minnesota’s only openly gay Republican senator, made headlines in June by dining with a gay adult-film actor. Reports of the date surfaced on Twitter and made national news. Social issues were a factor in the race, as Gazelka made his opposition to same-sex marriage and benefits a leading issue. Koering blasted the Minnesota Republican Party last month for what he called its effort to “dig up dirt.” A party researcher wrote sheriffs in Morrison and Crow Wing counties, asking if they had law-enforcement records on Koering. Gazelka distanced himself from those tactics, saying he didn’t endorse the state party’s investigation of Koering.

RELATED: Koering angered many in January 2009 when he announced that he would not only not work for marriage equality in Minnesota, he wouldn't even vote for it if it was presented to his chamber. Koering's top aide said at the time that if anybody complained about his boss's stance on marriage equality, their letter would just go in the trash "where it belongs." Koering's 2010 campaign page is blank under the "issues" button, so it's unclear whether he changed his tune. However even Koering's opponent denounced NOM for their "mean-spirited" flier campaign earlier this year, so it's possible he did.

Minnesota's Gay Senator Flips Us The Bird

Openly gay Minnesota Republican state Sen. Paul Koering is under fire for refusing to support same-sex marriage because the state has "more important" items on the agenda. Koering is getting a lot of understandable flack from his fellow gays and this, in part, is how his assistant is responding to complaining emails:

I can testify all day long about how much Senator Koering cares for the People of Senate District 12. He ran three consecutive times, being defeated the first two, and why did he put himself through so much hard work? Do you think it was because he needed another job? Absolutely not! He did it because he believed he was the best person to serve the People that he calls neighbors, friends, and family. And especially now, in a time like this, we are being bogged down with this completely pointless issue. There are People in Morrison and Crow Wing Counties, and across the State who are losing their jobs, their homes, their insurance, and were you to ask them if this is an issue that should take one second of precedent over these conditions they're facing every day, do you believe, do you honestly believe that they would say to you, 'Yes, please, waste the time of the State Legislature with a piece of legislation that will not help, but in fact, overshadow the current situation we're living in? Please, waste their time with this piece of legislation while I tell my son and daughter that mom and dad aren't hungry tonight?' I know very well that you will respond to this e-mail of mine with some probably quirky, snide, and very thoughtless comment that will make me out to be a bad person and threaten the Senator even more just as most of the absolutely tactless and disrespectful e-mails we've received have been written, but really, don't waste your time. We'll just put your e-mail where it belongs, in the trash.

You really must read the entire letter. It's the most astonishingly bold "FUCK YOU" I've seen from the office of a gay politician to his fellow queers. I suggest returning the favor. Sen. Koering's email: sen.paul.koering@senate.mn. His office phone number: 651.296.4875.

Gay Republicans Are Creating Change From The Inside

Minnesota gay Republican state Sen. Paul Koering won't support same-sex marriage. Because the state is too busy with important things.

State Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, told KLKS on Friday that he will not vote for the Marriage and Family Protection Act, a bill that would make Minnesota’s marriage laws gender-neutral, allowing same-sex couples many of the rights currently denied by Minnesota statute. Koering, who is gay and a Republican, said he would vote against it because the state faces bigger problems.

It's not a new position for Koering. In 2005 he said, "I think some of the gay activists will be upset with me for this, but sometimes I think an agenda is pushed so far and so fast that people have no alternative but to push back. And I think that sometimes you have to move slowly."

Gay Republicans are working from the inside of the beast, people. Can't you see that?