The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Yesterday was a banner day for Republican leaders nationwide. Two more have been caught up in sex scandals with a gay twist.

First up is married Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch - one of the leading proponents of the state's anti-gay marriage amendment. The first female majority leader, her tenure is also the shortest. She resigned after an "inappropriate relationship" with a Senate staffer came to light. Koch says she won't seek re-election in 2012.

[Republican state senator Geoff] Michel said multiple staffers reported allegations to Senate leaders. He said he doesn't know how long the relationship was going on and legally cannot discuss the name of the Senate staffer involved with Sen. Koch. The Edina senator could only specify that it was "inappropriate" a "conflict of interest" and created an "unstable work environment for staff." On whether or not the relationship was sexual, Michel said "I think there's only two people who could fully characterize that," but GOP leaders said they never heard the word "sexual" used when the allegations surfaced.

Michel said the allegations were brought to him weeks ago, and that he checked with human resources and colleagues before moving forward. He said the Senate is "potentially" at a legal risk as a result of these allegations, which is why leaders are speaking and proceeding so carefully.

Yes, yet another Republican "marriage defender" who is busy on destroying their own marriage - but that doesn't compare to the conservative Mississippi mayor who tried to get reimbursement for his purchases at a gay sex shop. Details after the break.

As far as I've been able to gather, Mayor Greg Davis doesn't have an anti-gay record. Which is good, because his purchases have forced him out of the closet.

Receipts from embattled Southaven Mayor Greg Davis reveal that he had the city pay for wide-ranging expenses including thousands of dollars worth of liquor, expensive dinners at a local restaurant and a visit to an adult store catering to gay men while on a recruitment trip to Canada.

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."