Ashburn

Anti-gay rights California legislator Roy Ashburn told local news,

“I am gay. And so, those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long,” Ashburn told radio host Inga Banks on her show on the KERN station in Bakersfield.

And my first thought was, Good For Him. Yes, really, good for him. He said something difficult to say, about himself. He fought against his own identity his entire career.
SF Gate – the news in general – claims that, “he defended his voting record, saying he cast votes that his constituents wanted. Ashburn represents the 18th Senate District, which covers a huge swath of the central and southern part of the state.”
And so, again, good for him. The idea of a representative democracy is to have legislators who act on behalf of the needs their constituents, insofar as those needs can be understood. And so if Ashburn votes against his self-interest because he is voting for the views of his constituents, good for him.
I would very much like to see our government, with all its chest-thumping, we-are-the-best-nation-on-Earthing, attitude to have many more legislators who act as representatives.