An anti-gay group that once praised
former California Assemblyman Mike Duvall has denounced the lawmaker
as he resigns over a sex scandal, the Los Angeles Times
reported.
Duvall abruptly resigned Wednesday
after the Los Angeles CBS affiliate KCAL broadcast video of the
lawmaker bragging about his sexual conquests with two female
lobbyists. Duvall was the vice chairman of a committee where one of
the women represents a business interest. Both women were married.
Duvall, 54, is married and has two
children.
The Capitol Resource Institute (CRI), a
conservative lobby group, graded Duvall 100% for “time and time
again voting to protect and preserve family values in California.”
“It is always disappointing when a
champion of traditional values does not practice the same in his
private life,” said Karen England, executive director of CRI. “And
this appears to be the case with Assemblyman Duvall.”
Both Duvall, a Republican from Yorba
Linda, and CRI supported Proposition 8, the California initiative
that banned gay marriage in the Golden State.
“Even as he resigns in shame, former
California Assemblyman Michael Duvall is wallowing in hypocrisy,”
Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, said
in a statement. “While engaging in extra-marital affairs, he used
'family values' as a justification to vote against every bill that
would have provided any measure of equal treatment or fairness to
LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people. He used the
same justification to support taking away the lawful right of
same-sex couples to marry.”
Duvall made his remarks during a July
committee hearing. The videotaped session shows Duvall talking with
a colleague in detail about his extra-marital affairs. At one point,
the lawmaker says, “So I am getting into spanking her. Yeah, I
like it.”
In a statement, Duvall remained
unapologetic, saying only that he was “saddened that my
inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my
colleagues in the Assembly.”