A Republican state lawmaker from
Georgia opposed to marriage equality has admitted to being “involved”
in the website Ashley Madison.
State Rep. Allen Peake of Macon
confessed in an email to having used the site, which is devoted to
married men and women looking to have an affair, several years ago.
“[T]he truth is that several years
ago, I was on this site during a very difficult period in my
marriage,” Peake said Sunday in an email to friends and family.
“It was stupid and I was an idiot for going on there. Two and a
half years ago I told her about every detail of my involvement on
this site.”
“Through tears and heartache, much
pain and anguish, and with intense professional counseling, we made
the decision to work to save our marriage. Her powerful and merciful
gift of forgiveness helped us make it through some very dark and
lonely days, and come out the other side with a stronger relationship
and marriage. Forgiveness is indeed life-changing, and miraculous.”
As recently as May, Peake, who has a
gay brother, reiterated his opposition to marriage equality.
In discussing his support for a
so-called religious freedom bill that critics say would open the door
to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,
Peake
said, “I want to make sure [my brother] is never discriminated
against for his sexual orientation.”
“But I also want to balance the fact
that there are those who have a religious conviction that ought to
allow them to not be involved in an activity that would violate that
religious conviction. That's a fine balance that has to be taken,”
he added.
After Ashley Madison refused to shut
down, hackers last month released the records of millions of people
who have used the site.