How surprising is this? Not much, really.

California State Senator Roy Ashburn, a Republican, "has reportedly voted against every gay rights measure in the state senate since taking office", says KGPE news in Fresno, the local CBS affiliate. Ashburn was arrested last night for drunk driving. Of course, there's more.

Ashburn was pulled over, driving a state issued vehicle (as if State Senators can't afford their own cars). Ashburn was pulled over because of erratic driving. It was around 2 am. He failed a field sobriety test and his alcohol level later was shown to be .14. Ashburn was not alone. He had another man in the car with him, who has not been identified because he was not arrested.

Various media outlets are reporting that Ashburn, and apparently his male friend, had just left a well-known gay club in Sacramento. However, the manager of the club says she doesn't remember seeing him there. Ashburn, a divorced "family values" Republican, has admitted he was drunk. He has said he was sorry for his actions. But so far, he has not said a word about the reports that he and his male friend had just a gay club together. Ashburn didn't show up on the floor of the legislature today and is not returning phone calls. As of this morning, Monday, March 8, Ashburn admits he is gay.

UPDATE: Apparently we need to look at the Vatican, which is now tangled in another gay sex scandal. Angelo Balducci held the Vatican post of The Gentleman of His Holiness, an elite position within the Vatican. Balducci apparently used Ghinedu Ehiem, a member of the choir for St. Peter's Basilica, within the Vatican, to secure prostitutes. Actually it appears that the young men so procured were not necessarily prositutes but did prostitute themselves. Some of the men were studying for priesthood, others appear to have been choir members, and others were immigrants desperate to secure legal status in the country.

Other sources say that Ehiem, and his assistate at the choir, Lorenzo Renzi, both helped secure males for sexual purposes. One wiretap, set up during a corruption investigation, has Renzi telling one male "You'll get up to 2,000 euors... Do not touch his balls. You need the money. Put on some music, take out the [inaudible], swallow the Viagra, and adelante." European papers are reporting that Ehiem has admitted he pimped men for Balducci and instructed "to do it in great secrecy."