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The South Carolina Republican senator, who has consistently voted for anti-LGBTQ+ policies, has denied being queer.
In a fiery social media post on Thursday, far-right provocateur and fervent Donald Trump ally Laura Loomer took aim at South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a fellow Trump acolyte, calling for the senator to come out of the closet. Graham has said he wasn't gay.
The post, which came in response to Graham’s recent comments criticizing Trump’s provocative style, has put a spotlight again on longstanding rumors about Graham’s personal life despite his previous denials.
“Lindsey Graham has never been loyal to President Trump,” Loomer wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding, “When is Lindsey coming out of the closet? We all know you’re gay, Lindsey… and that’s ok.”
Loomer’s comments were in response to a recent Meet the Press interview in which Graham suggested that Trump’s showman persona may not win him the 2024 election. Graham urged Trump to focus on policy and cautioned against personal attacks, particularly as Trump ramped up his rhetoric against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Loomer’s call for Graham to come out of the closet is not new to the discourse surrounding the South Carolina senator. Unsubstantiated rumors about his sexuality have circulated for years, with Graham addressing the speculation in a 2010 New York Times interview, joking that he wasn’t involved in a “clandestine affair with Ricky Martin.” At the time, Graham dismissed the rumors by saying, “I ain’t gay. Sorry,” a response that did little to quell ongoing gossip about the never-married senator.
Loomer has built her platform on unflinching devotion to the former president. By tying Graham’s personal life to his supposed disloyalty, Loomer’s post not only attacked his recent remarks but also tapped into a broader tactic of using identity as a political weapon by right-wing extremists.
Related: Laura Loomer’s racist attack on Kamala Harris even upset the far-right’s Marjorie Taylor Greene
In 2020, the nickname “Lady G” trended on Twitter after gay adult film star Sean Harding alleged that Graham had employed male sex workers who knew him by that name. Graham never publicly addressed the claim.
While Graham’s personal life has remained private, his consistent voting record against LGBTQ+ rights has made the rumors particularly controversial. Over the years, he has opposed marriage equality, voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and supported the Defense of Marriage Act. Critics argue that if Graham were gay, his anti-LGBTQ+ record would represent profound hypocrisy.
Earlier in the week, Loomer engaged in a public spat with fellow Trump ally Republican Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after making a racist comment about Harris, which even Greene condemned as “appalling and extremely racist.” Loomer also traveled with Trump to Tuesday’s presidential debate and accompanied him to 9/11 commemorations the following day—sparking outrage due to her past claims that the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job.”
After Loomer posted about Graham, Harding responded to her.
“I don’t like you at all but I’ll reach across the aisle and vouch for your accusations to bring Lindsey down,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Graham did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.
