Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Denounces 'Disgusting' Claim That She's a Lesbian, Says She Follows the Bible
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has slammed accusations spread on social media that she is a lesbian and once lived with her girlfriend, insisting that they are lies and that she lives her life according to the Bible.
"Telling lies is just disgusting," Ivey told WVTM 13 in an interview on Wednesday.
Ivey's response was to a tweet by Patricia Todd, Alabama's first openly gay legislator, who earlier on Wednesday wrote on her account that has since been set to private:
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"Will someone out her for God's sake....I have heard for years that she is gay and moved her girlfriend out of her house when she became Gov. I am sick of closeted elected officials."
Ivey said that "after a full, long, good productive day, I saw this tweet. And it's disgusting, it's false, it's a bald-faced lie." She added that she lives her life according to Biblical principles, and defines marriage as solely a union between one man and one woman.
The 73-year-old Republican, who last year replaced former Governor Robert Bentley following a sex scandal, previously served as the state's lieutenant governor and state treasurer.
Ivey campaign spokeswoman Debbee Hancock also denounced the rumors in a statement to AL.com, stating that it is a "disgusting lie being pushed by a paid liberal political hack."
"There is absolutely no truth to it," Hancock added.
Todd meanwhile insisted that she knows several conservative Republicans who are gay, accusing them of having an "identity issue."
"I'll catch some flak for it," Todd said. "But I feel a responsibility — not as the 'head queer' —to hold people accountable."
Responding to the rumors concerning Ivey's personal life, Hancock again repeated that there is "no truth" to the governor, who was previously married to a man, ever having had a relationship with a woman.
Ivey further told WVTM 13 that she has no regrets in her run for election to full-term in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
"I'm honored to run and I'm honored to have the people's support. The polls have us still strong," she said.
"I think if there's any motivation you can find it has to be associated with those who are not getting any traction and they're just desperate for media attention, any way they can get it."
Just a day earlier, Ivey announced on a separate issue that she is fully supporting the movement for President Donald Trump to be nominated for a Noble Peace Prize, due to his work regarding peace efforts on the Korean peninsula.
"President Trump is due to be honored for his ability to bring everyone to the table to discuss a way forward which offers the Korean Peninsula, and the world, a path toward stability and peace," Ivey wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
"It isn't often that presidents follow through on their promises; yet, President Trump is proving time and again that he isn't like most presidents. I am thankful to the president for the conservative, smaller-government direction he is taking our nation and for his efforts in ensuring that our world is a safer place," she added.
