Ashburn: I've Been A 'Hypocrite'
Gay Senator Says He Has Changed
POSTED: 8:04 am PDT May 28, 2010
UPDATED: 8:28 am PDT May 28, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --
State Sen. Roy Ashburn, a conservative Republican who recently revealed he is gay, admitted Friday he has been a "hypocrite" and said he is an unlikely advocate of repealing the nation's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals serving in the nation's military.
But the Bakersfield legislator said much has changed since his Sacramento drunken driving arrest earlier this year and his decision to reveal his sexuality. The senator has in the past voted against gay-rights legislation.
"I guess I'm as surprised as anyone, but these things have happened in my life, and I am now all about saying what I mean very truthfully and openly, and when it comes to this particular subject of gay people being discriminated against, either in the military or being allowed to join, this is a policy our nation should end," Ashburn told KCRA 3 a day after Congress took two big steps toward ending the nation's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.
"We should never be about discrimination," Ashburn said. "We should never be about big government prying into the private lives of our citizens, and these are core, conservative Republican values."
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