REPORT: Married Michigan State Rep Leaked Gay Hooker Scandal About Himself To Hide Affair With Fellow Married Rep

Back in June, I reported that Michigan Tea Party state reps Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat had introduced a trio of anti-gay marriage bills, two of which would have outlawed all civil marriages. Under their proposed bills, only "a minister of the Gospel, cleric, or religious practitioner” would be allowed to issue marriage licenses and perform weddings. Today the Detroit News has a juicy follow-up:

State Rep. Todd Courser planned the distribution of a fictional email alleging he had sex with a male prostitute in a bid to conceal his relationship with Rep. Cindy Gamrat, according to audio recordings obtained by The Detroit News. Courser, a Lapeer Republican, said on one recording the email was designed to create “a complete smear campaign” of exaggerated, false claims about him and Gamrat so a public revelation about the legislators’ relationship would seem “mild by comparison.” Interviews with former House employees and the recordings show freshman lawmakers Courser and Gamrat, R-Plainwell, used their taxpayer-funded offices to maintain and cover up their relationship. Courser, 43, and Gamrat, 42, rose from the ranks of tea party activism, battled establishment Republicans to win seats in the House last year and formed their own legislative coalition.

Both reps are opposite-married with three children each. From Gamrat's campaign page: "Our nation was built upon a Judeo-Christian foundation and has been blessed by the hand of Providence. I will stand STRONG for religious freedom against any attacks that may come it's way."

More from the Detroit News:

Written using the pseudonym George Rathburn, the sexually explicit email was received by Republicans on May 20 and 21, the two days following Courser’s meeting with Graham. The missive claimed Courser was removed from the House GOP caucus after being caught having “paid male on male sex behind a prominent Lansing night club,” among other claims. During the May 19 meeting, Courser twice read aloud portions of a draft email to Graham. Most of the sentences Courser recited match copies of the email sent to Republicans and obtained by The News. “Nobody’s gonna believe any of that,” Graham said about the draft email. “Correct,” said Courser, who then added: “No, they’ll believe some of it. They’ll believe some of it.” Courser does not explicitly say he wrote the letter, only telling Graham “it’s already written” and that Gamrat “agreed” with sending it.

Hit the second link above to listen to the audio files. (Tipped by JMG reader Rob)

MICHIGAN: Crackpot Tea Party Reps Intro Three New Anti-Gay Marriage Bills

Freshman Michigan Tea Party state reps Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat have introduced a trio of  anti-gay marriage bills, two of which are so theocratic that you just have to laugh. Via Eclectablog:

House Bill 4731 changes the current law covering the ability of a couple to get married in secret (“without publicity”) to make that option available only to opposite-sex couples. It actually explicitly refers to a person’s “marriage to a person of the opposite sex”. The mention of “clergy” is important because a second bill, House Bill 4733, would restrict the issuance and signing of marriage licenses only to “clergy” which they define as “a minister of the Gospel, cleric, or religious practitioner.” Finally, House Bill 4732 would make it illegal for anyone who is not a “minister of the Gospel, cleric, or religious practitioner” to perform a marriage. So: No secret gay marriages. Only clergy can issue and sign marriage licenses, and only clergy can perform weddings. No government officials involved, marriage becomes the exclusive bailiwick of religion. Atheists can just suck it up.

In the extremely remote possibility that these bills were to be approved, it seems like an awful lot of gay folks would suddenly declare themselves to be members of the clergy. Not that there's a shortage of gay-friendly churches that would be delighted to be able to issue marriage licenses.

RELATED: In April, Gamrat was kicked off of the Michigan House Republican caucus, apparently for violating confidentiality rules by commenting on Facebook about a pending issue. Unrelated to that, this is from her campaign site: "Our nation was built upon a Judeo-Christian foundation and has been blessed by the hand of Providence. I will stand STRONG for religious freedom against any attacks that may come it's way."

BROOKLYN: Local Tea Party Founder Busted For Possession Of Child Porn

Via the New York Post:

An ultra-conservative one-time Brooklyn city council candidate — whose campaign slogan was “Our children are our future” — has been nabbed for possessing and sharing kiddie porn, prosecutors said Friday. Joseph Hayon, 37, was arrested Thursday and admitted to police that he traded the sick pics of kids between the ages of 2 and 12 in December 2014 using his email account ArtModel@juno.com, according to a criminal complaint. At his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court, prosecutors said a tip led police to search Hayon’s Midwood home, where the stash of child porn was found. Cops confiscated Hayon’s two laptops, five desktops, video camera, Samsung cellphone and one DVD, prosecutors said. He was also slapped with an order of protection Friday barring him from coming in contact with his four children, ages 9, 7, 4 and 15 months. He was released on $50,000 bail.

Hayon is the founder of the Brooklyn Tea Party. He ran for the NYC Council in 2009 and 2013, losing both times. A recap of his 2009 campaign platform reveals that he intended to sponsor legislation ordering NYC to disobey then-Gov. David Patterson's directive for state agencies to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages. (How would that have worked, exactly?) Hayon also vowed to "make all public library staff criminally responsible for making any form of electronic obscenity available to minors." Ahem. And then there's the usual Tea Party anti-trans, anti-gay bloviating about indoctrinating children, plus something about requiring that kosher grape juice be made available to people on food stamps. (Tipped by JMG reader Mark)

Ben Carson Wins GOP Straw Poll

Via The Hill:

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson won the presidential straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City on Saturday, beating out Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Carson won 25.4 percent of the vote, while Walker took 20.5 percent and Cruz received 16.4 percent. Other GOP presidential hopefuls and potential candidates finished far behind the top trio. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie finished a distant fourth with 5.3 percent of the vote, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry took 5 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush won 4.9 percent. Winning the straw poll could provide a boost to Carson’s long-shot candidacy. “The fact of the matter is that I believe our founders set up a system that wasn’t supposed to cater to a political class,” Carson said at the conference. “It was supposed to cater to the people.”

Walker and Perry are expected to formally announce their candidacies in the next couple of weeks.

DETROIT: Ben Carson Makes It Official

Tea Party darling Ben Carson officially tossed his bible into the 2016 presidential race this morning in a Detroit speech that was preceded by a glory hallelujah star-spangled Jesus frenzy that included a color guard, a gospel choir, and a performance by a Christian vocal quintet who sang God Bless America and The Battle Hymn Of The Republic. Things get started at the 31:00 minute mark below and Carson finally takes the stage with his wife at the 1:00:00 mark. Set your faces to dumbfounded. By the way, that's Mrs. Carson on violin during the national anthem. For realz.

Ben Shapiro: We're Going To Lose

"The justices of the left, along with Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the egregious opinion in Lawrence v. Texas (2003) in which he stated that those committing homosexual acts are Constitutionally 'entitled to respect for their private lives' will determine that yes, the Constitution mandates not merely that the state respect private lives, but that the state endorse those private lives (so long as, presumably, polygamy and incest are off the table – for now). Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan all endorsed in glowing terms same-sex marriage; that’s no surprise, since all are rabidly left generally, and both Kagan and Ginsburg have officiated same-sex weddings.

"All argued that the institution of marriage is specifically designed only to grant dignity, and that it is discriminatory not to grant dignity to homosexual couples – showing once and for all that for the left, the government is God, and that the State is the final arbiter of all that is just and good, rather than a protector of rights pre-existing government. In the end, the Supreme Court will rule that same-sex marriage is the law of the land; the pseudolegal nonsense spewed by the various justices having no relation to the Constitution is mere post facto justification for decisions already made." - Ben Shapiro, decloaking for Breitbart as an advocate for criminalizing homosexuality.

Erick Erickson: The Totalitarian Gaystapo Is Like Islamic Radicalism Minus Killing

"The gaystapo has decreed that Mr. Reisner’s businesses must be boycotted. He dared to associate with a conservative. Consequently, Mr. Reisner, to protect his business interests in New York, has been forced to apologize for having an untouchable in his home. The totalitarianism of the gay rights movement is on display more and more. A pizza restauranteur doesn’t want to cater a gay wedding? Burn the business now. A cake baker doesn’t want to bake a cake? Drive the family into the streets. A fire chief thinks homosexuality is a sin? Fire him. It’s not just that the gay rights movement is unwilling to listen to counter-arguments. It’s that they ruthlessly try to destroy anyone who dissents and now anyone who agrees with their agenda, but who dares to allow dissenters into their homes on unrelated business. This is totalitarianism. It is Islamic radicalism minus the death cult. It is America in the 21st century." - Erick Erickson, writing for Red State.

NOTE: The haters will hang onto to that one stupid pizza parlor tweet as evidence of the inherent violence of gay people even though Christian leaders like Matt Barber can employ open advocates for executing all homosexuals. You'll never read about THAT on Red State, of course.

Rep. Jared Polis Intros House Bill To Stop Rep. Steve King From Introducing Bills

From the official site of openly gay Rep. Jared Polis:

On the heels of Rep. Steve King’s outrageous announcement Wednesday of his “Restrain the Judges on Marriage Act,” Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02) today proposed the “Restrain Steve King from Legislating Act.” The bill would prevent Steve King from abusing taxpayer dollars by substituting the judgments of the nation’s duly serving judicial branch of government with his own beliefs.

“For too long, Steve King has overstepped his constitutionally nonexistent judicial authority,” Polis said. “Mr. King has perverted the Constitution to create rights to things such as discrimination, bullying, and disparate treatment. These efforts to enshrine these appalling values as constitutional rights were not envisioned by the voters, or by King’s colleagues who must currently try to restrain his attempts to single-handedly rewrite the nation’s founding principles on a bill-by-bill basis.

“I urge the House to bring this bill to the floor. If passed, my bill would preserve the right of millions of voters in all 50 states who would prefer that Steve King refrain from legislating a role for himself in their marriage decisions.”

(Tipped by JMG reader Dustin)

Ted Cruz Files Two Anti-Gay Marriage Bills

Via Bloomberg:

Days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on same-sex marriage, Senator Ted Cruz has filed two bills to protect states that bar gay couples from marrying. Cruz's legislation would establish a constitutional amendment shielding states that define marriage as between one woman and one man from legal action, according to bill language obtained by Bloomberg News. A second bill would bar federal courts from further weighing in on the marriage issue until such an amendment is adopted. While Cruz's legislation would face solid opposition in the Senate, it is an attempt to force his competitors to keep the issue alive even if the court rules in favor of same-sex marriage. Last year, Cruz and Utah Senator Mike Lee filed similar legislation to protect more than 30 states that currently define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, but those bills died when the session in a Democratic-controlled congress ended.

The bills are here and here.

Hotelier Ian Reisner Reacts To Cruz Flap

"For my entire adult life, I have been an ardent supporter and activist for gay rights and LGBT organizations worldwide. I was given the opportunity to have a candid conversation with Senator Ted Cruz on where he stood on issues including the state of Israel and national security, which are the only places where we share common ground. It was just three months ago that I hosted a 'Ready for Hillary' event for a record turnout of 900 people at The OUT Hotel. Senator Ted Cruz and I disagree strongly on the issue of gay marriage, but having an open dialogue with those who have differing political opinions is a part of what this country was founded on. My tireless support of the gay community and its causes worldwide hasn't changed and will not change." - New York City hotelier Ian Reisner, posting tonight on his Facebook page.

NOTE: There are conflicting reports at whether the event with Cruz was a fundraiser.  CNN is saying that it was, but the New York Times is saying this "Mr. Cruz was on a fund-raising tour of New York City, although the dinner was not a fund-raiser." I've added this notation to previous posts on this topic.

Ted Cruz: I Took Money From Those Gays But I'm Still Against Same-Sex Marriage UPDATE: Maybe It Wasn't A Fundraiser?

Earlier today the New York Times reported that Sen. Ted Cruz held a fundraiser this week in the Manhattan penthouse of multimillionaire gay hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass (above). As you can imagine, that report has caused a furor in Teabagistan and tonight Cruz had to rush out a reassuring statement.

Ted Cruz was forced to reiterate his stance against same-sex marriage in a Thursday night statement after a news report of comments he made at a fundraising event on Monday in New York City cast some doubt. Cruz, who hopes to court evangelical voters to support his presidential bid, stood by what he reportedly told a small group, hosted by "two prominent gay hoteliers," according to The New York Times. The Times reported his remarks seemed to signal a softening of his beliefs on same-sex marriage, a charge Cruz dismissed.

"It speaks volumes that The New York Times considers it newsworthy that a Republican who believes marriage is between a man and a woman would meet with people who hold a different view," Cruz said in a statement. Earlier on Thursday, the Times -- a frequent rhetorical target of Cruz on the stump -- published an account of an event on Monday evening in which Cruz said he would treat his young daughters the same if one of them told him she was gay. Cruz agreed with that reporting, but ridiculed the suggestion in the article that he was somehow shaping his views to suit the audience's. The Texas senator said he told the crowd that he opposed same-sex marriage. The Times reported that he did not mention that belief, only noting that he believes marriage is a state issue

News about the fundraiser has also ignited the gay blogosphere and a Facebook group calling for a boycott of the hoteliers' properties already has 1000 members.

UPDATE: There are conflicting reports at whether the event with Cruz was a fundraiser.  CNN is saying that it was, but the New York Times is saying this "Mr. Cruz was on a fund-raising tour of New York City, although the dinner was not a fund-raiser." Reisner's statement in the post above this one does not say.

UPDATE II: I should have identified Mati Weiderpass in the above photo posted to the Facebook boycott page.

Rep. Steve King Intros Bill To Strip Federal Courts Of Powers Over Marriage

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has introduced a bill that would strip federals courts of the power to rule on marriage. His bill is titled the Restrain the Judges on Marriage Act of 2015. Via The Hill:

“For too long, federal courts have overstepped their constitutionally limited duty to interpret the Constitution.” King said in a news release. “Rather, federal courts have perverted the Constitution to make law and create constitutional rights to things such as privacy, birth control, and abortion. These Unenumerated, so-called constitutionally-protected rights were not envisioned by our Founding Fathers.” King’s bill strips way Article III of the Constitution, which gives federal courts the jurisdiction to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity under the Constitution of, any type of marriage. The bill also prohibits federal funds from being used for any litigation in, or enforcement of any order or judgment by, any federal court.

Last year King declared that in 2000 years, no gay person has ever gone to heaven. The next day he said that leftists had "fabricated" the remark and that he stands by having said it. Yup.

Ted Cruz To Pastors: Preach And Pray Against Same-Sex Marriage This Weekend

"Dear American Pastor, We know that marriage is intended to be sacred, beautiful, and nourishing. If you do not influence your congregation’s understanding of marriage, who will fill the void? Hollywood? Divorce courts? Prayer moves our God to intervene in history. Prayer softens our hearts and brings us into alignment with the heart of God. The church has not shared the truth about marriage well: it is time to repent and commit ourselves to courage on this front.

"Regardless of what happens in the Supreme Court, or anywhere else, we know that the truth will never be obsolete. The union of man and woman in marriage will always be relevant. People will continue to need marriage, and to desire it – because we are made in the image of God, creatures who value authentic companionship and intimate connection.

"That leaves us only one question. Will we be on the right side of history, the side occupied by the Author of history? Otherwise we will fall victim to the fashions of the times. Will we discard an institution, ordained by God, which has brought so much stability and happiness to the human family? Or will we stand in its support? Rightly or wrongly, the Supreme Court will take a stand on marriage this summer. Let’s take ours now. God bless America." - Sen Ted Cruz, in a letter published by the group named in the JMG post below this one.

Mike Huckabee: Don't Join The Military Until After Obama Leaves Office

"When you have a president whose administration orders its chaplains to put its Bibles away, not to pray in Jesus name, not to counsel people on the issues of sexual morality; when you have this attitude that is more about promoting gay marriage and gay rights in the military than it is about being able to protect religious liberty for those people of faith, it’s going to be hard to find people that are truly devoted people of faith and Christian believers and Orthodox Jews and others. There’s nothing more honorable than serving one’s country and there’s no greater heroes to our country than our military, but I might suggest to parents, I’d wait a couple of years until we get a new commander-in-chief that will once again believe ‘one nation under god’ and believe that people of faith should be a vital part of the process of not only governing this country, but defending this country." - Mike Huckabee, speaking on Iowa talk radio.

Ben Carson To Announce In Early May

Via CNN:

Ben Carson will make a major announcement on May 4 in Detroit, his campaign tells CNN, setting the date and location for what's expected to be the launch of his presidential bid. The announcement will take place at the Detroit Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, and will be ticketed, but the rest of the details — the exact time, and how many tickets Carson will distribute to supporters — have yet to be hammered out, a spokeswoman said. The retired neurosurgeon has been traveling the nation over the past six months, giving paid speeches and meeting with supporters to gauge interest in a bid. He recently traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire, and spoke last weekend at the National Rifle Association's meeting in Tennessee. Carson's relative political inexperience, however, hasn't turned him away from the campaign — if he runs, he'll look to make it an asset, framing himself as a common-sense alternative to the broken policies of Washington politicians.

Carson has never held elected office.

Dickipedia: Ted Nugent

(Tipped by JMG reader Claude)

Ted Cruz At The NRA Convention

Via USA Today:

Sen. Ted Cruz, one of two declared Republican candidates for president, told National Rifle Association members in Nashville that he's fought the conservative battles, unlike his opponents. "In a Republican primary, every candidate's going to stand up and say, 'I oppose Obamacare,'" Cruz said at the NRA's annual meeting Friday. "The question we ought to ask is, 'Great, when have you stood up and fought Obamacare?' "Every candidate is going to say they don't support amnesty. Alright, great. When have you stood up and fought to stop the president's illegal and unconstitutional executive action?" Cruz, a first-term senator and a Tea Party favorite, boasted about the Senate's defeat of several gun restrictions in recent years. He also recalled the recent letter that he and 46 other Republican senators signed and sent to leaders of Iran, which critics said jeopardized a nuclear deal between the nations.

Sen. Ted Cruz: Liberals Are "Waging Jihad" Against Christians In Indiana & Arkansas

"Look at the jihad that is being waged right now in Indiana and Arkansas, going after people of faith who respect the Biblical teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. We need to bring people together to the religious liberty values that built this country. It wasn't long ago when this was an area of bipartisan agreement. When it came to the First Amendment we all stood together and said, 'Of course! Every one of us has God-given right to seek out and worship God.' This election needs to be about bringing together that consensus again, and that’s got to come from the people." - Ted Cruz, speaking yesterday at a presidential candidate forum in Iowa.

Super PACs Raise $31M For Ted Cruz

$31M in the first week. So they claim.

The groups, four super PACs sharing variations of the name Keep the Promise, were established and secured commitments with virtually no warning over the course of several days beginning Monday. Dathan Voelter, an Austin, Tex., lawyer and friend of Mr. Cruz who is serving as treasurer for three of the super PACs, said the four organizations would operate in tandem, all seeking to help elect the Texas senator as president. Most of the contributions have already arrived, he said, and the remainder will be collected by the four groups by the end of the week. The dollar figures could not be independently verified, and none of the groups will need to file campaign disclosures with the Federal Election Commission until July. But an outside spending campaign of that size, combined with Mr. Cruz’s demonstrated ability to pull in dollars from small donors, would substantially offset Mr. Cruz’s difficulties in building a traditional network of regular large donors and volunteer fund-raisers, known as bundlers.

HomoQuotable - Dan Savage

"Rand Paul is a different kind of Republican! Rand Paul has all sorts of new ideas! New ideas like, um, opposing same-sex marriage, backing the 'Life Begins at Conception Act' (which would make abortion illegal), and keeping marijuana illegal. Rand Paul also has a big new idea about climate change: it's not happening and Paul opposes efforts to regulate carbon emissions! Rand Paul wants to increase defense spending by $190 billion! He opposes Obama's nukes deal with Iran, and he fully backs the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that allows unregulated and unlimited contributions to flow into campaigns! Rand Paul also supports the Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act! Paul opposes all gun control measures, has pledged to repeal Obamacare, and wants to use drones to police our border with Mexico and increase the number of deportations. Rand Paul isn't like all of those other Republicans who want to do all of the exact same things Rand Paul wants to do." - Dan Savage, writing for the Stranger.