Dalton Glasscock, the newly-elected GOP
chairman of Sedgwick County, Kansas' second-largest county, announced
he's gay on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Glasscock is a former
congressional aide to Republican Representative Ron Estes.
Glasscock told the Wichita
Eagle that he decided to come out after a campaign to out
him. He said that the campaign included e-mails and text messages
sent to precinct committee members identifying him as a “homosexual”
and questioning whether he would uphold the party platform's
opposition to marriage equality and “transgender identity.” The
precinct committee elects party officers.
“I think my job as chairman is to
enforce whatever platform the [state] delegates decide on,”
Glasscock said. “My job as chair is just elect Republicans first
and foremost. There will be Republicans that agree with 100 percent
of the platform, there will be Republicans that agree with 60 percent
of the platform. My job's to elect them both.”
Glasscock, who has been active in
Republican politics since high school, told the outlet that he had
not planned on coming out prior to the back-channel campaign. He
said that he hopes his decision will help young people struggling
with their sexuality.