Political Attack Ad Suggests Texas Candidate Is Gay and Voters Should Keep Him Out of Men’s Rooms

Texas GOP Politics Grow Increasingly Ugly – Republican Denies Allegations That He’s ‘Well Known’ in Houston’s Gay Bars

Briscoe Cain (photo), a tea party candidate for the Texas Legislature who’s received endorsements from several anti-LGBT hate groups, is accused of being a closeted gay man in a campaign flier (below). The attack ad says it was paid for by his Republican opponent. 

Incumbent GOP state Rep. Wayne Smith, 72, denies he’s behind the flier targeting the 31-year-old Cain, Smith’s challenger in the May 24 Republican Primary runoff.

Cain, meanwhile, denies the allegations in the flier, which states that he’s “well known to those who frequent Montrose area night clubs and gay bars.” Montrose is Houston’s gay neighborhood, and the district covers the city’s eastern suburbs. 

“I’m disgusted by my opponent’s actions,” Cain told The Houston Chronicle, adding that photos of him in the flier are from when he was much younger, and may have been taken from a friend’s MySpace page. 

The photos show Cain, who’s now married to a woman, playing beer pong at an unspecified venue, licking the ear of a nude male statue, and lounging shirtless in snorkeling gear. There’s also a photo of two men kissing outside a park bathroom. 

“Houston voters want to keep men out of women’s locker rooms and restrooms,” the flier states. “District 128 votes should keep Briscoe Cain out of the men’s restrooms as well.” 

The flier says Smith “will author and pass legislation to keep men out of women’s locker rooms and restrooms all across Texas.” 

“On May 24th Say NO to indecency,” the flier states. “Say NO to Briscoe Cain.” 

Smith denied any knowledge of the flier, and Allen Blakemore, a spokesman for Smith’s campaign, suggested that Cain is actually the one circulating it.    

“In a last gasp attempt to breathe life into his latest attempt at political office, the Briscoe Cain campaign’s most recent publicity stunt now includes rumors of a malicious mailer,” Blakemore said, adding that Cain is “starved for support and the attention of the voters” and is reaching “to the media for a life preserver.”

Cain outpaced Smith in the March 1 GOP primary, 48 percent to 43 percent, but since neither received more than half of votes, they’ll meet again in Tuesday’s runoff. 

Right-wingers have accused Smith, an establishment Republican and top lieutenant for moderate GOP House Speaker Joe Straus, of not being sufficiently conservative. And Cain’s endorsement list reads like a who’s-who of anti-LGBT groups and activists, including the National Organization for Marriage, Texas Values, the Texas Eagle Forum and Conservative Republicans of Texas. 

On his campaign website, Cain calls for standing up to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, protecting so-called “religious freedom” and cutting off funding for cities with LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances. In March, he posted this to Twitter:

Dr. Steve Hotze, the prominent anti-LGBT activist who heads Conservative Republicans of Texas, told the Chronicle that when he learned of the flier, he contacted Cain, who assured him the accusations are baseless. 

“I’ve known Briscoe for years and I take him for his word,” Hotze said. “It’s such a despicable piece, so sleazy … but it’s politics, for crying out loud. That’s how it works.” 

 

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