US: Senior GOP spokesman comes out as gay

A former senior spokesman for the US Republican Party has come out as gay in an editorial published on Thursday.

James Richardson, a former advisor to the Republican National Committee and Governors Haley Barbour and Jon Huntsman came out publicly in a Washington Post article published today.

He wrote: “I feel forced to out myself.”

The current vice president of public affairs at Hynes Communications noted his long time support for gay rights, including same-sex marriage.

He admitted that some past colleagues would not support his decision to publicly come out.

“For my admission here, I will alienate friends whose faiths regard my sexuality as culturally corrosive.

“I’ll suffer the snickering of those across the aisle whose politics regard my own as personally injurious. And conservative clients may regard me as a liability. After all, the tide is not as unidirectional as people say.”

Richardson has written articles in support of same-sex marriage over a number of years, and supports the right of same-sex couples to adopt.