Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner sues Republicans over sexual misconduct claims

Reid Rasner, a gay Republican candidate for Congress in Wyoming, is taking legal action against fellow Republicans after he says they spread false accusations about his conduct and sexuality.

According to a report cited by Semafor, Rasner is pursuing a case against former Wyoming state senator Austin “Kit” Jennings, who allegedly launched a “whisper campaign” claiming Rasner had committed sexual misconduct.

Rasner said the fallout has been severe. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life,” he said. “This just isn’t the Wyoming I knew or thought I knew. The state needs to come to terms with the hate and ignorance that’s fueled death threats and violence against me, all because of my sexuality.”

He is also settling a separate case against an Iowa Republican who allegedly repeatedly labelled him a paedophile in social media posts.

After the accusations surfaced, Rasner reportedly shared a video that endorsed “the ultimate punishment” for “anyone convicted of paedophilia”.

Other LGBTQ+ Republicans have backed Rasner’s defamation case, including Ross Hemminger, president of Log Cabin Republicans.

Semafor reported that Hemminger said the claim that an out gay candidate was a paedophile “struck him as the sort of discriminatory rhetoric he thought both parties had moved past”. He also said: “I am surprised, because Reid is a very, very conservative person,” and added: “Policy-wise, he probably outflanks most people who hold office in Wyoming.”

Rasner told Semafor the rumours kept him out of several candidate forums, including one hosted by the Wyoming Family Alliance, which opposes equal marriage.

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The dispute has also drawn attention because Rasner is a vocal opponent of trans rights. He previously called gender-affirming care for trans children “child abuse”. In a video posted to his official Facebook page on 23 June, he said: “If you’re transitioning your children, that is child abuse and you should lose your parental rights, and that’s pretty cut and dry. Don’t transition your children. They have a voice and a choice. Boys are boys and girls are girls.”

The case adds to a growing number of political fights in which false accusations and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric overlap, with direct consequences for candidate access, personal safety and public participation.