Reid Rasner, an openly gay Republican running for Wyomingâs lone House of Representatives seat, is suing members of his own party for defamation stemming from homophobia.Semafor reports that Rasner is pursuing a case against former Wyoming State Senator Austin âKitâ Jennings, who allegedly pushed rumors that Rasner committed sexual misconduct. The rumors began after Rasner garnered national attention in 2025 for making a personal $47 billion bid to buy the social media site TikTok, and got worse from there.Rasner, who came out when he was 20, is also settling a case against an Iowa man who repeatedly called him a âpedophileâ under his campaignâs Facebook posts. The man claims that his accusation was based on âmultiple social media posts and news articles accusing Reid Rasner of serious sexual misconduct,â but didnât specify any specific posts.Meanwhile, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who is running against Rasner in the Republican primary, piled on and issued a poll telling respondents that Rasner âmarried his gay husband in New York.â That poll showed Rasner initially behind Gray by single digits, but losing support after voters were told about his sexuality.âIâve never experienced anything like this in my entire life,â said Rasner, 42, to Semafor. âThis just isnât the Wyoming I knew or thought I knew. The state needs to come to terms with the hate and ignorance thatâs fueled death threats and violence against me, all because of my sexuality.ââEveryone told me: Donât file lawsuits,â Rasner said. âI should have filed them on Day One.âAccording to Rasner, certain candidate forums have chosen not to invite him after the rumors started, including one held by the Wyoming Family Alliance, which opposes same-sex marriage.Even with gay people in President Trumpâs administration, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Republican Party still has a lot of homophobia. The âpedophileâ and âgroomerâ slurs actually began as buzzwords for conservatives to attack the LGBTQ community. In a deep-red state like Wyoming, this reaction to Rasnerâs campaign is sadly not that surprising.