Last week Paul Babeu dropped the “G” word. Babeu, an Arizona sheriff and Republican Congressional candidate, came out of the closet and admitted he is gay. However, his rainbow might be dimming amid the allegations that caused his coming-out.

Babeu is accused of threatening his ex-boyfriend with deportation back to Mexico if he divulged the secret of their relationship. Babeu says he never made those threats, arguing that the sheriff doesn’t have deportation authority and that his ex, Jose, is in the country legally.

I feel pretty bad for the poor guy. It’s bad enough that your sex life is put on display for the whole world to see, but the media took screen shots from gaydating websites with pictures of Babeu in his underwear. He shouldn’t have posted those pictures, but I still feel sorry for him.

I think it’s great that there is a gay sheriff running for Congress in Arizona. I think the way we found out he was gay could have been more pleasant. I don’t know if Babeu made those threats or not, but what I do know is that if Babeu wins in November, it will be used as a victory for the gay rights movement.

The real story here is there is an openly-gay Republican seeking election for a national office in a state that has a Constitutional amendment banning gay people from marrying. It will be interesting to see how the election plays out. If he wins, then I imagine the battle for gay marriage in Arizona may be waged once more.

I figure if Babeu wins this election, we will see a lot more gay people running for elected office and winning. Our culture is at a turning point. Society is generally more accepting of gay people than it was 50 or even 20 years ago. Landmark cases are on their way to the Supreme Court, and I see gay marriage becoming a reality in less than 10 years.

The argument against Babeu doesn’t make sense. If he doesn’t have authority and the boyfriend is here legally, why would he even make the threat? I think this is just a ploy from the other candidates who are trying to stop Babeu from winning by exposing he is gay.

I am hoping the people of Arizona will see Babeu for who he is: a hardworking sheriff trying to make Arizona and America a better place. I think it’s time we started  judging people by the deeds they do outside of the bedroom instead of inside it.