Following the death of longtime U.S. Republican Senator on Saturday night, reportedly due to aortic dissection, the LGBTQ+ community’s response was swift.
The South Carolina Republican had been a member of the U.S. Senate since 2003, and in his later years, he remained a steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump, despite having previously contested him in the 2016 Republican primary.
Throughout his time in office, consistently opposed the progress of LGBTQ+ civil rights, standing against marriage equality; advocating against the repeal of the 2011 policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which mandated that military personnel conceal their sexual orientation; and voting against protections against workplace discrimination. Regarding transgender rights, Graham specifically endorsed state-level prohibitions on gender-affirming care for minors.
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5 shocking claims as trans author says Lindsey Graham paid her for sex work
- A now-viral Instagram post by trans author and actress Jesse James Rose recounts an alleged incident in which she claims to have been compensated by Graham for sex work before her gender transition during her college years. According to her biography, the author studied at New York University, earning a degree in Music Theatre and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Studies.
- “Most of you know him as the homophobic Senator from South Carolina but to me he will always be the man who paid a twinky pre-transition college student a fat stack of cash to do unspeakable things to him in a hotel room while he wore red lingerie,” the author wrote in the three-slide post. “It is a canon trans event to have far right freaks bankrolling you & then turning around and voting against you.”
- “People loooooove to judge us for it but I never see them opening their wallets!!! Shout out to s*x workers everywhere forced to humanize their enemies just to make rent,” she further said. “It is an absolute mindfvck too me that one of the reasons I have any semblance of financial security (& a lack of student loans) is because of this man.”
- “At the time I had no idea who he was, and I only figured it out because another group or twinks leaked Lady G to the media,” Rose continued. “Some queer tried to grandstand critique this, saying we shouldn’t ‘out’ people. I believe bigots with power deserve no peace or privacy, especially when they hold public office. I’m glad they did it. Icons forever.”
- She concluded her post entitled “Eulogy for a Horny Hypocrite,” saying: “Lindsey, rest in hell for what you did to our community. I will continue to love queer and trans people harder than you ever hated us. You loved every second of our time together, and now everyone knows.”
Lindsey Graham and gay allegations
Graham steadfastly rejected claims of being gay throughout his life. In 2018, when comedian Chelsea Handler suggested something about his sexuality on social media, the Senator addressed the rumors by stating, “To the extent that it matters, I’m not gay.”
While Rose’s recent post after Graham’s passing represents one of the most explicit claims made by a queer individual regarding Graham’s alleged hiring of them for sex work, it is not the first instance.
In 2020, adult film actor Sean Harding shared a post online, suggesting that an unnamed Republican senator had engaged multiple gay sex workers. The narrative was linked to Graham due to the moniker “Lady G,” a codename reportedly used by sex workers in Washington, D.C. to refer to the South Carolina legislator. This nickname followed Graham throughout what would ultimately be the concluding years of his life.
In spite of these allegations, Graham upheld his anti-LGBTQ+ policy positions throughout his entire political career. Furthermore, he played a significant role in the formulation and enactment of SESTA/FOSTA, a series of laws introduced during the Trump administration that targeted online sex work under the pretense of combating trafficking, while purportedly increasing the risks faced by sex workers.
