Republican Mississippi Mayor Greg Davis Outs Himself

December 20, 2011 1:28 PM

"While I have performed my job as mayor, in my opinion, as a very conservative, progressive individual — and still continue to be a very conservative individual — I think that it is important that I discuss the struggles I have had over the last few years when I came to the realization that I am gay."
posted by 256 (64 comments total)

I'm glad that he's chosen to be honest with himself. It would have been nice if he could have done it before spending taxpayer money though.
posted by lekvar at 1:34 PM on December 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Congratulations on coming out. On the using public funds to party, not so much.
posted by jonmc at 1:35 PM on December 20, 2011 [11 favorites]

State auditors have demanded that Davis repay the city approximately $170,000 for improper charges to his city-issued and personal credit cards, the newspaper reported.

Talk about burying the fucking lede. I pray one day that headlines will read "Mayor discovered to have misused $170,000" and the fact that he spent $67 at a sex shop/is gay will be the off-handed note in the last paragraph.
posted by griphus at 1:35 PM on December 20, 2011 [66 favorites]

"While I have performed my job as mayor, in my opinion, as a very conservative, progressive individual..."

Does it make him "conservative" or "progressive" when he uses public money to buy sex toys? Why does anyone apologize anymore?
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:37 PM on December 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

(Although I do commend a politician south of the Mason-Dixon publicly coming out instead of hemming and hawing about this being some sort of moral failure. I just wish it wasn't being used as misdirection for some pretty serious embezzling.)
posted by griphus at 1:37 PM on December 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Kim Jong-il Likes James Bond Movies, Dies
posted by theodolite at 1:38 PM on December 20, 2011 [16 favorites]

From now on if you are a "family values first" Republican I am going to go ahead and assume you are gay.
posted by zzazazz at 1:38 PM on December 20, 2011 [21 favorites]

Sounds more like Reactionary Libertarianism to me.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 1:39 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

For just one second I thought this was talking about Rob Ford. Alas, no.
posted by kmz at 1:39 PM on December 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

I do this all the time. When I'm stealing $170,000 in taxpayer funds I'm always like, which card do I use now? It can be embarrassing.
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:41 PM on December 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

griphus: Yeah, I considered adding "[...and unprincipled.]" after the pullquote, but wasn't sure it would scan correctly.

There are two parts to this story: 1. A gross and selfish misuse of public funds, and 2. The surprisingly graceful and eloquent coming out of a Southern Republican politician.
posted by 256 at 1:42 PM on December 20, 2011

I wish Mr. Davis would drop some knowledge on the mayor of Troy, MI, who recently scrubbed this choice quote from her facebook wall: "I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there."
posted by ofthestrait at 1:43 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

the fact that he spent $67 at a sex shop/is gay will be the off-handed note in the last paragraph

The fact that he's gay is significant because he's mayor in a state where you could probably find broad public support for a law legalizing the hunting of homosexuals for sport.

The fact that he spent the money at a sex shop is significant because it's a pure sign of abuse. With dinners, bills, etc there's often some question as to whether it somehow tied to his official duties and therefore not egregious. But even the Mayor of Amsterdam couldn't get away with buying sex toys from a public account.

That said, it's not a story of significance. If he spent the money on home renovations you wouldn't hear about it more than a few counties away. We're all a bit dumber for reading this story.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:45 PM on December 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

While he's claimed to be a 'family values first' kind of guy, he had not - as far as I know - been acting in a particularly homophobic fashion. As opposed to the usual sort of closeted 'family values first' kind of guys who tend towards being blisteringly (and presumably overcompensatingly) homophobic up until they're caught.

Good for him for being honest about his sexuality. And to hell with him for 'misappropriating' more money than most of his constituents make in several years.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:46 PM on December 20, 2011

I thought for sure this was a double, so much so that I started searching my comments for what I said. It turns out that I read about it elsewhere. Here's what I said there:

There is so much going on in that Southhaven mayor story. He's (allegedly) embezzled money, then he gets busted once they start investigating, and now he's blaming his bad decisions on his closeted gayness. Even though I can understand making bad decisions when you are that point in your life, I'm getting pretty sick of grown men using it as an excuse for (mostly unrelated) bad behavior. This whole McGreevey Defense is getting really old.

I still feel exactly the same way.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:46 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

State auditors have demanded that Davis repay the city approximately $170,000 for improper charges to his city-issued and personal credit cards, the newspaper reported. (emphasis mine)

Why his personal card(s)? Why not just the city-issued one(s)?
posted by Mister Moofoo at 1:47 PM on December 20, 2011

I live two blocks from the Priape in Calgary and it's a great shop for underwear- it's not like you have to show your gay card to shop there. Lube knows no sexual orientation.

Straight women buy their men underwear all the time.

I'm just saying that spending money at Priape didn't necessarily have to push him out of the closet- though I guess that would depend on how detailed the receipt was...
posted by ethnomethodologist at 1:47 PM on December 20, 2011

Jesus Christ. The man didn't have 67 bucks to pay cash for his damn sex toys? He had to use public funds? I don't even understand what would make somebody do something this stupid but I suppose it is because he thought he was above suspicion and/or simple laziness. If he was my mayor I would be calling for prison time. Damnit. Stop dipping your fingers into the till!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 1:48 PM on December 20, 2011

Why his personal card(s)? Why not just the city-issued one(s)?

i'm guessing to pay back things he was reimbursed on.
posted by nadawi at 1:49 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: We're all a bit dumber for reading this story.
posted by 445supermag at 1:52 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

zzazazz: From now on if you are a "family values first" Republican I am going to go ahead and assume you are gay.

Or a thief of public funds.

"At this point in my life and in my career, while I have tried to maintain separation between my personal and public life, it is obvious that this can no longer remain the case," Davis told the newspaper in an interview at his Southaven, Miss. home last week.

"I am totally a party animal, and now everyone knows that. I tried to play the part of a do-good square, but that's just not me. Sorry I spent public funds to throw such awesome parties, and I really wish I could have invited you all to come along, but you weren't in Toronto, and I was. Next time, though, you're all invited to enjoy the $170,000 worth of party supplies I purchase."
posted by filthy light thief at 1:53 PM on December 20, 2011

Eh. Politicians use public funds for all kinds of things. If Mississippi taxpayers each had to pay $0.000002 dollars last tax year to buy this dude a dildo, whatever. I don't care.

What will be monumental is if this guy keeps his job. And that's probably what we should all be hoping for. But I guess it's not likely.
posted by koeselitz at 1:53 PM on December 20, 2011

Dude belongs in jail and not because he's gay.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:54 PM on December 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

I won't promise never to come out by way of an expensed sex toy from Church Street. But I will promise never, ever to run on a "family values" platform.
posted by bicyclefish at 1:56 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

More ammo for homophobes. Great.
posted by Evernix at 1:57 PM on December 20, 2011

This Memphis Commercial Appeal story gives a few more details on the receipts.

My favorite part:

A review of the receipts at which Davis listed aldermen as being in attendance show dinners dating to 2009 and totaling a little more than $6,500. The largest dinner bill listed was July 7 and totaled $1,349.36.

Davis wrote on the receipt that the dinner was to "meet with board members regarding local business." It does not list the board members by name but shows the group ate pork tenderloin, ribeye steaks and chicken and had an array of cocktails that included lemon drop martinis, pineapple mojitos and white Russians.

For context, Southaven is basically a white-flight suburb of Memphis.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 1:57 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

What will be monumental is if this guy keeps his job. And that's probably what we should all be hoping for. But I guess it's not likely.

You do realize the objection isn't to the public funds for a dildo per se, right? It's not about a $67 dildo, it's about spending $170,000 of public funds on god only knows what. He should lose his job. Not because he's gay, but because he stole from the public coffers.
posted by Tomorrowful at 2:00 PM on December 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Talk about burying the fucking lede. I pray one day that headlines will read "Mayor discovered to have misused $170,000" and the fact that he spent $67 at a sex shop/is gay will be the off-handed note in the last paragraph.

That said, it's not a story of significance. If he spent the money on home renovations you wouldn't hear about it more than a few counties away. We're all a bit dumber for reading this story.

The sex shop was in Toronto and the story is from the CBC. Of course they are going to focus on the part of the scandal that took place in Canada.
posted by riruro at 2:01 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

The lede is buried in the story because the linked article is from a Canadian news site. So their angle, and whole reason for even reporting it, is "Toronto sex store purchase outs mayor," not "U.S. politician misuses funds."
posted by mediated self at 2:01 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Pineapple mojitos?! Lemon-drop martinis?!

GREG DAVIS: GIRL-DRINK DRUNK
posted by BitterOldPunk at 2:02 PM on December 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

Actually, it looks like he did have some explicitly anti-gay campaign propaganda. The gayhomophobe.com site has a link to some info about it.
posted by rmd1023 at 2:07 PM on December 20, 2011

"While I have performed my job as mayor, in my opinion, as a very conservative, progressive individual..."


I do not think those words mean what you think they mean...
posted by darkstar at 2:09 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

And then there is former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. who the National Sheriff Association named “Sheriff of the Year” in 2001. He was charged last month for exchanging meth for sex with men.

"Ironically, Sullivan will be jailed in the Arapahoe County Jail, which was named for the legendary sheriff — The Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.

... According to public records, in 2007 and 2008 Sullivan was an active participant in state and local methamphetamine task forces, helping craft a state plan to deal with the scourge of methamphetamine."

posted by ericb at 2:09 PM on December 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

On reflection, I just remembered why this seems familiar.

My first boyfriend A. came out to his parents in a (admittedly by him almost immediately after words) ridiculous way. They were fighting about something (even months later, no one remembered what), and he was making his points, "And X! And Y! And Z! And I'm GAY!"

His mother, as was her way, was obviously moved by this confession. But his father calmly said, "That's good, but that's not what we're talking about right now." And proceeded to argue vehemently on points X, Y, and Z.

Now A., in the heat of the moment, probably did feel that those points were related, even though they were not. And I'm not saying that Davis came out to deliberately muddy the waters. But it does.

Also he's not a 18-year-old twenty years ago arguing with his parents.

Sympathy, I have none.

or at least very, very little
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:20 PM on December 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

Note to conservative culture warriors:

Sexual identification is not, and never has been, a moral issue.

Lying, theft, and embezzlement are, and always have been, moral issues.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 2:21 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

You know what? I think this guy's a shit-head for abusing the public trust. I think he showed terrible judgment. No one is gay enough to make up for that.
posted by Mister_A at 2:24 PM on December 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

an array of cocktails that included lemon drop martinis, pineapple mojitos

That's definitely one way to come out of the closet.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:25 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

You mean, come out of the closet as a guy with lousy taste in embezzled drinks, right Blazecock?
posted by Mister_A at 2:28 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Man, it is so irritating when shitty people do admirable things.
posted by Phreesh at 2:32 PM on December 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

State auditors have demanded that Davis repay the city approximately $170,000 for improper charges to his city-issued and personal credit cards, the newspaper reported. The receipts were given to auditors with the hopes of reducing that amount.

If I'm reading this correctly, he actually submitted the receipt as evidence that he spent the money in an official capacity, which is pretty incredible.
posted by theclaw at 2:38 PM on December 20, 2011

Q. What's the worst part about drinking lemon drop martinis?
A. Telling your parents that you have terrible taste in alcohol.
posted by en forme de poire at 2:38 PM on December 20, 2011

McGreevey defense, heh. Being shouldn't be used as a smokescreen for anything. That's why with the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell, anyone who avoided military service by saying they're gay must report for duty immediately.
posted by jonmc at 2:41 PM on December 20, 2011

helping craft a state plan to deal with the scourge of methamphetamine

You can'r fault him there - seems he had a very clear and specific plan.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:45 PM on December 20, 2011

When I first saw the word Mississauga in the link, I thought, "Damn! Hazel McCallion just realized she's gay!? She'd better get down to some same-sex action and fast."
posted by stinkycheese at 2:56 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Rather, upon misreading Mississippi as Mississauga...
posted by stinkycheese at 2:56 PM on December 20, 2011

$170k would sure buy a lot of dildos. Or maybe just one, monumental, dildo.
posted by me & my monkey at 3:01 PM on December 20, 2011

It's interesting to me that he described himself as conservative and progressive, because my experience of the way those words are commonly used in contemporary U.S. political discourse, they are antonyms. Are there other examples of conservative progressives, and, if so, what do they stand for? What distinguishes them, on the one hand, from other conservatives and, on the other other hand, from other progressives?
posted by layceepee at 3:02 PM on December 20, 2011

Metafilter - One, monumental, dildo
posted by Phreesh at 3:03 PM on December 20, 2011

Metafilter - One, monumental, dildo

I know you are. But what am I? :)
posted by Benny Andajetz at 3:10 PM on December 20, 2011

You know what? I think this guy's a shit-head for abusing the public trust. I think he showed terrible judgment. No one is gay enough to make up for that.

Yes but you could try, right?
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:33 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

What distinguishes them, on the one hand, from other conservatives and, on the other other hand, from other progressives?

An inability to discern the meanings of commonplace terms in contemporary English.

On another tack, is this the 2011 version of dead girl/live boy? Not a hotel room but the cloud where he met his comeuppance....
posted by Diablevert at 3:51 PM on December 20, 2011

A pig farmer went down to the local grange one day to chew on a piece of wheat straw and catch up with his neighbors.

The corn farmer said, "Ayup, a bit hot for this time of year. 'F we don't get some rain soon, my season's shot. Don't know how I'll make it through the winter."

The cotton farmer nodded said, "I tell you what, them boll weevils are loving this drought. They done et my plants down to the ground. Cotton is up to two bucks a pound but I ain't gonna have none to take to market."

The pig farmer puffed out his chest, tucked his thumbs into the straps on his overalls, and beamed. "Yeah? Well I fucked a pig yesterday!"

The cotton farmer and the corn farmer let their jaws fall open a bit, though not enough to break any sort of farmer etiquette. The pig farmer, realizing he had just forever and ever self-branded himself as a dirty pig fucker, scrambled to salvage his reputation, or at least distract his cohort from the pig fucking. "But guys! Hey, guys! It was a boy pig. A boy pig!"

And relieved, the pig-fucking pig farmer knew that he would, in fact, be able to show his face around those parts again.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:03 PM on December 20, 2011

@rmd1023 FWIW it did take some time to find that cite (and it was a reader who did, not me). It's not really mentioned in his campaign literature. So either he plays the anti-gay bit relatively low-key, or he just did it in ways I couldn't easily review (e.g. mainly through interviews & stump speeches).

(Yes, I run gayhomophobe.com.)
posted by saizai at 7:01 PM on December 20, 2011

Blame Canada.
posted by furtive at 8:00 PM on December 20, 2011

me & my monkey: "$170k would sure buy a lot of dildos. Or maybe just one, monumental, dildo"

Sounds more like Minecraft to me.
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:00 PM on December 20, 2011

Eh. Politicians use public funds for all kinds of things. If Mississippi taxpayers each had to pay $0.000002 dollars last tax year to buy this dude a dildo, whatever. I don't care.

What will be monumental is if this guy keeps his job. And that's probably what we should all be hoping for. But I guess it's not likely.

also, it doesn't even really say what kind of funds they were other than "taxpayer funds" on his "city issued" and "personal" credit cards? what were they for? why is this $67 the most important expenditure in the whole 170,000/96,000/whatever thing?

That's why with the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell, anyone who avoided military service by saying they're gay must report for duty immediately.

hm yeah ok thanks for the ideas buddy

A pig farmer went down to the local grange one day to chew on a piece of wheat straw and catch up with his neighbors.

The corn farmer said, "Ayup, a bit hot for this time of year. 'F we don't get some rain soon, my season's shot. Don't know how I'll make it through the winter."

The cotton farmer nodded said, "I tell you what, them boll weevils are loving this drought. They done et my plants down to the ground. Cotton is up to two bucks a pound but I ain't gonna have none to take to market."

The pig farmer puf

nah forget it, yo holmes to Bel Air
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 8:20 PM on December 20, 2011

I don't understand gay republicans. It seems as ridiculous as a Jewish nazi or black KKK member.
posted by mike3k at 8:29 PM on December 20, 2011

Why do Republican males love thick, vein-y cocks so much?
posted by bardic at 8:31 PM on December 20, 2011

Coincidentally, this A-BOMB BUTTPLUG, tax in, would come to almost exactly $67. "Not for beginners!"

Ride 'em, cowboy.
posted by sixswitch at 9:29 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

BTW, new to me: DADT for firefighters, WTF?

"Wakham persisted, asking Davis if he believes openly gay people should serve in the military. Davis was briefly stumped, but he said military members shouldn't be openly gay for the same reason he believes firefighters shouldn't be -- because it might make others uncomfortable in close sleeping quarters."

https://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/nov/02/election-1st-congressional-district-d233j224-vu/
posted by saizai at 11:22 PM on December 20, 2011

"...he did not remember what he bought at the store "

The hell he didn't.
posted by Hogshead at 5:23 AM on December 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

saizai: I love your site. I occasionally visit for my dose of hypocrite-exposure.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:02 AM on December 21, 2011

I don't understand gay republicans. It seems as ridiculous as a Jewish nazi or black KKK member.

mike3k, there's a documentary on a NY fetish dungeon & the dommes who work there. They actually film a black man who pays to be humiliated by KKK-dressed dommes, and admit they have a Jewish customer who wants to be oppressed by Nazis.

Life is weird.

But gay Republicans are simple to explain: self-loathing. It may be that the best inquisitors of the Inquisition hated themselves for their religious doubts.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:56 AM on December 21, 2011

The part of this that kind of weirded me out as a native Mississippian is that the Canadian paper described Southaven as the third biggest city in the state, and I'd never even HEARD of it.

I had to Google it to find out it was a suburb of Memphis, and as such really isn't part of a Mississippian metropolitan area at all. However, describing it that way makes him seem like a bigger deal politically than he actually is, even if it's true.

"Mayor of the 3rd largest city in MS" is obviously a bigger splash of a story than "mayor of minor Memphis suburb".

Also, I just checked, and that assertion is just wrong. According to Wikipedia, the biggest are:

1. Jackson (174K)
2. Gulfport (68K)
3. Hattiesburg (52K)

This matches my own expectations, knowing the state as I do. So I wonder where they got their stats.
posted by uberchet at 8:56 AM on December 22, 2011