Ashburn, who consistently voted against gay rights measures during his 14 years in statewide office, came out in an interview with KERN radio in Bakersfield, the area he represents.

Ashburn said he felt compelled to address rumors that he had visited a gay nightclub near the Capitol before his DUI arrest.

“I am gay … those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long,” Ashburn told conservative talk show host Inga Barks.

The 55-year-old father of four said he had tried to keep his personal life separate from his professional life until his March 3 arrest.

“When I crossed the line and broke the law and put people at risk, that’s different, and I do owe people an explanation,” he said.

Ashburn was arrested after he was spotted driving erratically near the Capitol, according to the California Highway Patrol. Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman from the Sacramento County district attorney’s office, said a breath test showed the senator’s blood-alcohol level was .14 percent, or .06 points above the legal limit.

The next day, reports surfaced that Ashburn had left Faces, a gay nightclub, with an unidentified man in the passenger seat of his Senate-owned vehicle.

“The best way to handle that is to be truthful and to say to my constituents and all who care that I am gay,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s something that has affected, nor will it affect, how I do my job.”

Ashburn has voted against a number of gay rights measures, including efforts to expand anti-discrimination laws and recognize out-of-state gay marriages. Last year, he opposed a bill to establish a day of recognition to honor slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

Equality California, a group that advocates for expanded gay rights and other issues, said it consistently gave Ashburn a zero rating on its scorecard.

The group’s executive director, Geoff Kors, said Monday that he hopes the senator’s revelation will lead to a change in his voting patterns.

“He’s still the same person, only living more honestly,” Kors said. “I hope his own self-awareness will result in him no longer voting to deny people the most basic rights.”

Ashburn said his votes reflected the way constituents in his district wanted him to vote, not necessarily his own views.

“I felt my duty – and I still feel this way – is to represent my constituents, not my own point of view, not my own internal conflict,” he told Barks.

He said he planned to continue voting on behalf of what he sees as the majority viewpoint in his district, which includes parts of Kern, Tulare and San Bernardino counties.

Ashburn has been on personal leave since his arrest but was expected to return Monday to the Senate. His spokesman, Noel Libang, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

In the radio interview, Ashburn said he is drawing on his Christian faith, and he asked people to pray for him.

He said he does not plan to run for any public office after his term ends this year.

Why does a lt. governor matter? Because he will replace Gov. Mark Sanford if the governor resigns or is impeached (very possible, since the governor is currently dealing with a Latin American sex scandal of his own).

Bauer has no voting record for or against gay issues – but then again, few gay bills make it to South Carolina’s floor (the last one, on hate crimes, died in committee when Bauer was in the state senate).

In the comments section to his post, Rogers says:

“He has spoken about marriage, and in a letter endorsing Huckabee cited the protection of “traditional marriage” as one of the reasons to elect Huckabee.”

Here’s a story about outing and South Carolina’s gay closet issue in the Columbia Free Times.

“The stigma and discrimination against homosexuals in Chinese society have prevented gay men from revealing their sexual orientation or taking HIV/AIDS tests and treatments, holding back the efforts to curb the disease,” Prof. Zhang Beichuan of Qingdao University told the official Xinhua news agency.

With the help of LGBT groups in nine major cities, Zhang polled men in gay bars and bath houses. Of the 2,250 gay men surveyed, 20.7 percent were married to women.

Other surveys have found that as many as 90 percent of China’s gay population is closeted.

“In western countries, only a fraction of homosexuals would get into heterosexual marriages. But in China, about 70 to 80 percent of gay men had the intention of marrying a woman sooner or later,” Zhang told Xinhua.

The survey found that about half of the men polled had looked for strangers to have sex. More than 18 percent participated in group sex and 13 percent said they paid for sex.

When questioned about sexually transmitted diseases, more than 20 percent said they had experienced an STD during the past six months. Less than a quarter had taken an HIV/AIDS test, with 2.2 percent positive.

Zhang told Xunhua that society needs to show a greater understanding and tolerance toward gays. He also said the government needs to provide better access to HIV/AIDS education.

Jake Michael Della-Vedova, 25, will serve four months behind bars.  He pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of blackmail.

The name of the politician has been suppressed.  All that is known about him is he is married.

“You intentionally exploited an aspect of the victim’s sexuality which you knew made him vulnerable, especially in light of his position in our community,” Judge Lisa Hannan said in passing sentence.

“It is sad that this remains the sort of information that in our society is used for blackmail, but it is the reality,” she said.

Court in Melbourne was told that Della-Vedova met the politician last June on a gay chat site. Over the next month the pair exchanged test messages and agreed to meet at Della-Vedova’s home.

Prosecutor Simon Cooper told the court that after having sex Della-Vedova complained that he was short of money and the politician gave him $150 (Au) that he had at the time in his wallet.

During another visit the politician handed over another $250.

But what the politician did not know at the time was that Della-Vedova had secretly video taped the sexual encounters.

Della-Vedova later began threatening the man with exposure if he did not hand over more money.

The politician instead went to police.  Della-Vedova was arrested when he arranged to meet the politician to get the cash.

Police later searched Della-Vedova’s home and found the taped sexual encounters on a computer.  Under questioning Della-Vedova confessed.

Della-Vedova could have received up to 15 years behind bars.