South Carolina became the 43rd
state to elect an openly gay lawmaker with the election of Republican
Representative Jason Elliott.
Elliott ousted four-term GOP incumbent
Rep. Wendy Nanney to represent the state's 22nd district,
which includes parts of Greenville, home to the Christian
fundamentalist school Bob Jones University. After the Supreme Court
in 2015 found that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional
right to marry, the university released a statement condemning the
decision as creating “a threat to religious liberty.”
Elliott, 46, told The Charlotte
Observer that his sexual orientation was not an issue during the
campaign, though he acknowledged that he did not make it part of his
campaign.
“Every South Carolinian has equal
rights, not special rights, and I believe each part of the
constitution is equally important,” he
said. “In South Carolina, that means respecting other people's
viewpoints and protecting religious freedom.”
“There are people who have a 100
percent opposite viewpoint from me on the orientation issue, and I
respect that, and I understand that, and I'm not threatened by that,”
he added. “I think what it says, though, is that we are accepting
the fact that people are different from us and that we are a state
that is moving toward being open to folks who aren't exactly like
us.”
A divorce attorney and former
prosecutor, Elliott said that he didn't come out until his early
thirties. He is raising a high school senior with his ex-wife.
According to the Gay & Lesbian
Victory Fund, Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Nebraska and Tennessee have yet to elect an openly gay legislator.