Anti-LGBTQ Lawmaker Resigns Reportedly After Visiting Grindr For Guys

Source: Thomas Trutschel / Getty

Republican Lawmaker Resigns Reportedly After Grindr History Surfaces

A Republican politicians who was pushing straight “family values” is now under the microscope after allegations of hooking up with younger guys.

According to Nashville Scene, State Rep. Bill Sanderson unexpectedly announced on Tuesday night that he’d be resigning. According to his words, he’s resigning so he can better tend to his business, White Squirrel Winery, according to The Tennessean. He also said his son-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer and he couldn’t justify the time he’d be spending in Nashville.

Now all of this might be true. But some rumors have been swirling around that there’s more to the story.

Another report from Cari Wade Gervin argues that Sanderson was dipping and dabbing in the gay hookup app Grindr:

“Since he took office in 2011, Tennessee state Rep. Bill Sanderson (R-Kenton) has voted repeatedly in favor of legislation designed to harm the LGBT community. During that same time period, the 59-year-old Sanderson has also been openly soliciting sex with much younger men on Grindr, a gay hook-up and dating app, both from his home in West Tennessee and in Nashville.”

Gervin even says that in Sanderson’s 2013 Grindr profile, he wrote:

“I’ve seen a lot and done a lot, but I really haven’t had a connection with a guy and I have a burning desire to have that relationship. I like down and dirty guy to guy play too! So, I guess you might say, nothing will be held back.”

Oh reeeally?

Now granted, Gervin didn’t publish any messages or photos from Sanderson on the app, however she recounts them in detail from sources who told her about Sanderson’s encounters and communication with younger men. She also says Sanderson denies all this tea, and that he begged her not to run her story in an interview she also plans on publishing.

Gervin adds that the local ABC affiliate, WKRN, carried out an interview in 2016 with a guy who connected with Sanderson via Grindr but never published the story, reportedly after pressure form Sanderson.

Well, it seems the truth is going to come out one way or another. Guess we’ll have to wait until the final bombs drop.