GOP 'Family Values' Mayor Greg Davis of Southaven, MS Forced Out of Closet by Receipts from Gay Sex Shop
Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, Mississippi, "who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008 on a conservative, family-values platform" according to the Commercial Appeal, has been forced out of the closet over receipts uncovered in a criminal investigation over misused expenses. The receipts included "thousands of dollars worth of liquor, expensive dinners at a local restaurant and a visit to an adult store catering to gay men":
As details emerged Thursday from the receipts, provided by state auditors to Southaven aldermen and subsequently obtained by The Commercial Appeal, Davis conceded publicly for the first time in an interview with The CA that he is gay and has struggled to keep the issue from affecting his public life as mayor of Mississippi's third-largest city.
"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 said Thursday afternoon at his Southaven home. "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."
Davis doesn't recall what he bought at the Priape sex shop:
The receipts were provided to state auditors in hopes of decreasing the approximately $170,000 they have demanded Davis repay the city for improper charges to both his city-issued and personal credit cards. Auditors asked city aldermen, who approved the expenses, to review the receipts before making a decision on accepting them to reduce Davis' payments...
...a review by The CA shows that Davis spent thousands of dollars at the Mesquite Chop House in Southaven and thousands more at local liquor stores. Also included in the receipts is a charge for $67 at Priape, a store in Toronto that is described by its website as "Canada's premiere gay lifestyle store and sex shop."
Davis said he didn't remember what he bought at the store, which he visited on a recruitment trip with Mid-South warehouse developers.
I'm from DeSoto County Mississipp, where Southaven is located and I can't say that I'm a bit surprised. The right-wing, homophobic closet cases there are a dime a dozen, including withing my own family.
Posted by: TampaZeke | Dec 16, 2011 10:42:07 AM
You gotta love it, just gotta love it.
Posted by: Dan Collier | Dec 16, 2011 10:47:40 AM
Whoopsie!!!
Posted by: Dale | Dec 16, 2011 10:57:49 AM
He'll figure out a way to avoid prison or get probation for his financial misdeeds, get the divorce and the counseling, relocate to a major city with a gay male community, become something of a celebrity, appear on talk shows, and write a book about his "struggles" which will make enough in royalties to give him at least some modest income. And I will resent that.
Posted by: james | Dec 16, 2011 10:59:04 AM
it's ok that he forgets what he purchased. I'm sure the store has records to remind him.
Posted by: truthiness | Dec 16, 2011 11:00:54 AM
Correction to my earlier post: the divorce has already been finalized.
Posted by: james | Dec 16, 2011 11:06:05 AM
He should hook up with Marcus and get a discount on praying the gay away.
Posted by: JackFknTwist | Dec 16, 2011 11:15:16 AM
Oh. My. God.
As a gay man living in Mississippi, I say this is the juiciest thing to happen here in ages.
Having said that, I feel sorry for this family. Knowing people here his wife will stand by him like the good little automaton she is, and he will "use god to work through this trying time"....
Posted by: Coony | Dec 16, 2011 11:21:25 AM
The voters got what they deserved. F'd over.
Posted by: jaime jones | Dec 16, 2011 11:22:22 AM
Oh, well, congrats on coming out!
Posted by: Andalusian Dog | Dec 16, 2011 11:28:51 AM
Always sad when a spouse and children get hurt like this. I hope he can at least maintain a relationship with his kids. And Endo, is there a reason you find it funny that this man's daughter is crying? Yeah, the guy's behavior was wrong. But is his kid to blame?
So the Christian Right faces another humiliation. It seems this just isn't destined to be our year. But I'd caution against making too much of these "homophobe turns out to be secretly gay" episodes. It's silly to claim that everyone right wing person who takes an interest in LGBT issues is really suppressing homosexual feelings. A few high profile cases don't indicate a trend - they simply make a for a good laugh now and then.
Posted by: Mary | Dec 16, 2011 11:36:28 AM
Note to self: Buy sex toys, porn and lube with cash next time.
Like one of the previous posters, So glad I decided to live with integrity as an out gay male. Better to be a waiter/artist/ handyman
and sleep at night than some high profile schmuck, who;s life is a pack of lies and a house of cards. Glad I did not impose shame and emotional suffering on a woman I married to try and fix myself.
Spending all the money on the high life is just so wrong !!! He deserves jail, but most likely will get slap on the wrist. "White collar crime, you won't do the time"...
Posted by: Tom in long beach | Dec 16, 2011 11:48:51 AM
Now the far right will say: "see he is gay and corrupt"...wink wink nudge nudge.
Posted by: chuck | Dec 16, 2011 11:50:33 AM
Google Southaven - its tagline is "Top of Mississippi." Classic!
Posted by: Ed | Dec 16, 2011 11:57:39 AM
Why the hell is a mayor from Southaven, MS "recruiting" for warehouse owners in Toronto, ON? Is there a shortage of qualified warehouse workers in Mississippi? Have they run out of room to store stuff in Canada?
Posted by: RWG | Dec 16, 2011 12:19:44 PM
How stupid or clueless this guy is? One thing is that he was struggling with his sexuality and (finally) decided to accept who he really is. Fine.
But why spend state money on his visits to the sex toy store? If you were trying to hide your sexuality, wouldn't you leave no clues about your expenses in gay toys?
He was thinking like another GOP/Republican rat - abusing the money of the tax payers because they think they are entitled to screw their people and can get away with it! And because of this, I hope he goes to jail!
Posted by: Chris in Irvine | Dec 16, 2011 12:20:10 PM
Sympathy for this family. None for him. He had to know he was doing wrong. Wrong by his wife, wrong by his family, wrong by the people who extended trust to him. It's not wrong to be gay and closeted, but it is very wrong to be gay, closeted, deceitful and a quisling.
Posted by: justinw | Dec 16, 2011 12:20:29 PM
@RWG: He was probably recruiting businesses, not workers, to locate in Southaven. The Memphis airport is the major shipping hub for FedEx, so merchandise warehousing for companies shipping by FedEx is a business opportunity for the area. Nothing particularly sinister about it.
Posted by: jpeckjr | Dec 16, 2011 12:26:46 PM
Alternative scenario: his divorce has already been finalized. I bet his ex-wife knew he was gay already. He'll have to resign as mayor because of the spending issues, in exchange for no prosecution. He'll disappear for a time, then resume his career as an engineer, possibly in another city. That's when, on a talk show, we'll meet the man in his life.
Posted by: james | Dec 16, 2011 12:30:49 PM
This is from his bio on his mayoral website:
“Greg is a wonderful husband and girl-daddy,” Suzann says, “he can fix a broken toilet ---- and do one of the best ponytails you have ever seen!”
Posted by: Dastius Krazitauc | Dec 16, 2011 12:34:46 PM
He filled Michele Bachmann's mantra that gays can marry if they marry someone of the opposite sex. The right wingers and ex-gay groups will use it to justify their claims that gay is a choice. Isn't it revealing that the majority of these sorry cases are almost always republican men.
Posted by: Robert in NYC | Dec 16, 2011 12:37:24 PM
I really wonder, as I read these comments, what some of you think are the alternatives for a gay (or bi) man--he is really bi or he could not have had sex with a woman for years--living in a small town in Mississippi or the rest of the Deep South or, for that matter, much of the country.
Do you honestly think that an openly gay man would have a prayer of having any kind of professional career in such a place? Seriously? Who would hire him? If he were a doctor, who would come to his practice? If he were a lawyer, who would be his clients?
So, given that his choice in such a place is either to live in the closet--and become a conservative Republican as is expected of anyone "in society" in such a place, as much as being a liberal Democrat is expected of someone in a place like San Francisco--or to relegate himself to a life as a florist, a hairdresser, or an antique dealer, what is he supposed to do?
What if he does not find leaving the community he grew up in and his family appealing and does not want to live in New York or San Francisco or even Atlanta or New Orleans?
I am not surprised at the viciousness in this thread--gay men are probably the nastiest and least empathetic people in the world when it comes to how they treat each other, of which this is just another example.
I am not completely defending his actions, but these situations are not as simple as some of you pretend....but of course, if you are a nasty, bitter, hateful queen, that doesn't really matter to you, does it?
Posted by: Rick | Dec 16, 2011 12:38:03 PM
Oh, and one other thing--"feeling sorry for the family". Good God Almighty!--as though his wife is not likely to be a total right-wing homophobe herself......but I guess because she has a vagina, she gets sympathy anyway......according to the twisted mental processes of some of you (the same way that divas get a pass even when they are found to be homophobes).
Pathetic.
Posted by: Rick | Dec 16, 2011 12:45:32 PM
Rick, if you have such contempt for the people who post here, why do you spend so much time on this site?
What you call "nasty, bitter, hateful, and queeny" is a response to his being a craven hypocrite whose "family values" positions make the lives of the braver, open gays in his own community harder. That is worthy of bitter reactions, if you ask me.
Posted by: Dastius Krazitauc | Dec 16, 2011 12:49:12 PM
@Dastius Krazitauc Why don't you answer my damn question about what someone in that situation is supposed to do in the REAL WORLD, not in the hypothetically pure world that you can get away with living in the Castro or in Chelsea or in WeHo.
There are no "brave, open" gays in small towns in the Deep South.....not in any positions of substance in the community. Why? Because it would be suicidal to try to be. Do you just not understand that or do you just not give a damn about people facing that dilemna?
So I ask you again, what is someone in his situation supposed to do? Don't tell me what he is NOT supposed to do.....tell me, instead, what he IS supposed to do.
Thanks.
Posted by: Rick | Dec 16, 2011 12:57:05 PM