Tennessee’s Republican Lieutenant Governor, Randy McNally, issued an apology after it was revealed that he interacted with nearly nude photos of a young gay model on social media. This news has brought attention to the hypocrisy of the lawmaker as he has led the Tennessee Senate to pass bills that target the LGBTQ community. The Senate, with McNally as its speaker, has advanced and passed bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restrictions on where certain drag shows can take place.
The Tennessee Holler, a progressive website, first brought attention to the posts on Wednesday, calling McNally’s repeated comments on the various posts hypocritical. McNally has responded to racy social media posts by 20-year-old Franklyn McClur, a young gay model. McClur said that he knew it was a “cool opportunity” that the lieutenant governor was commenting on his posts. He said that he asked McNally if there were any open positions in his office, and McNally seemed “very willing to help me out.”
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During a press conference, McNally said he is “not anti-gay” and said the bills in question “try to limit certain things, and I think there are safeguards in those bills.” He noted that he spoke out against a 2020 law that assures continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if those organizations exclude LGBTQ families and others based on religious beliefs. McNally said he “still kind of” feels that marriage should be between a man and a woman, but said he has gay friends who are married and “has to abide by” the Supreme Court’s precedent on gay marriage.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has said that certain drag shows do not inherently fall under the law’s narrow definitions, which include extreme sexual or violent content without artistic value. But the ACLU and other advocates for LGBTQ rights fear that officials could use the law subjectively to censor drag artists. McNally voted to send the finalized drag show bill to the governor. He was not on hand when the transgender youth bill passed, and has largely stayed quiet about that bill.
McNally, who is from Oak Ridge, became lieutenant governor in 2017. He has been a state lawmaker since the late 1970s. Although he apologized for the scandal, he remains in his position. The scandal has brought attention to the hypocrisy of lawmakers who pass bills that target the LGBTQ community while privately interacting with and even supporting members of that community. It remains to be seen whether this scandal will lead to any changes in the way Tennessee lawmakers approach LGBTQ issues.
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