Republican candidate claims child abuse made him an ‘evil’ gay

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Bob Dixon recently told voters that the sexual abuse he suffered as a child led him live as an active gay man for over five years.

However, Mr Dixon now claims to have “overcome” his homosexual tendencies with the help of religion, promising he will “not allow the evil to win.”

Dixon – the Republican candidate for governor of Missouri – revealed back in 1991 that he had lived as a gay person for five years from 1983 until 1988, before undergoing his “religious awakening”.

However, after his opponents attempted to use his past admissions against him, Dixon released a statement putting his “teenage confusion” over his sexuality down to the abuse he suffered in his childhood.

In the statement – seen as a bid to rally the support on conservative voters – Dixon said he had now put the “confusion” behind him, used what was “intended for harm” to do “untold good”.

Speaking of the abuse and his sexuality, the married father of two daughters continued: “I have overcome, and will not allow evil to win.”

“There are people who to this day try to turn politics into a blood sport. This sort of approach discourages many good people from public service.

“While it is disappointing, I will have no fear of those who wish to tear down others for their gain. I will have no part of it.”

In his campaign announcement, Dixon took the chance to emphasise on his “core” conservative voting record, reports The Advocate.

“I’m 100 percent pro-life,” he reminded viewers.

“I’m a strong supporter of the the Second Amendment, actually I’m a strong supporter of the whole Constitution. And I’ve spent about the last 23 years as a strong supporter of traditional marriage.”

According to a poll carried out in the US earlier this month, he is not the only one, with almost two-thirds of Republicans opposed to the Supreme Court’s decision to back same-sex marriage.

However, they would struggle to make opposition to same-sex marriage successful in next November’s presidential election as more than half of American’s support the decision, the survey revealed.

Despite this, the clear majority of Republicans, 63 percent, still think that the Court’s decision last month to legalise same-sex marriage was wrong.