FORT
LAUDERDALE,
Fla.
—
On
a
humid
day
in
Tampa
last
month,
John
Dowless
could
be
seen
passing
out
cards
at
Landry’s
Seafood
House
to
a
group
of
about
40
of
Florida’s
most
conservative
religious
leaders,
including
members
of
Family
First
of
Tampa
and
the
Pinellas
Crisis
Pregnancy
Center,
an
anti-abortion
group.
Dowless
arranged
the
lunch
on
behalf
of
Mel
Martinez,
the
former
housing
secretary
who
is
now
one
of
eight
Republican
candidates
trying
to
get
his
party’s
nomination
for
the
U.S.
Senate
race
this
fall.
As
Martinez
railed
against
the
threat
of
same-sex
marriages
to
the
traditional
family,
Dowless
handed
out
cards
to
the
religious
leaders
imploring
them
to
“pray
for
Mel
Martinez”
and
to
get
involved
in
his
campaign.
Dowless
was
just
doing
his
job.
Formerly
the
executive
director
of
the
Christian
Coalition
of
Florida,
Dowless
is
now
a
private
political
consultant
in
Orlando.
Because
of
Dowless’
strong
connections
to
the
state’s
conservative
religious
groups,
Martinez
hired
him
several
months
ago
to
help
the
campaign
reach
out
to
conservative
Christians.
“My
role
is
organizing
grassroots
stuff
for
them,”
particularly
among
conservative
Christians,
Dowless
said.
In
a
crowded
primary
field,
many
Republican
candidates
in
Florida,
including
Martinez,
are
angling
to
get
voter
attention
by
running
as
far
as
possible
to
the
right.
Martinez
in
particular
has
sought
to
distinguish
himself
as
the
candidate
perhaps
most
vocal
against
gay
rights,
including
running
a
statewide
radio
ad
encouraging
the
Senate
to
pass
the
Federal
Marriage
Amendment,
and
attacking
one
of
his
opponents
for
supporting
hate
crimes
laws
that
would
include
protections
based
on
sexual
orientation.
Ironically,
at
least
two
powerful
men
working
for
the
Martinez
campaign
are
gay.
One
of
them
is
John
Dowless,
the
political
consultant.
The
other
is
Kirk
Fordham,
who
is
employed
as
Martinez’s
finance
director.
It
was
about
10
p.m.
on
the
evening
of
April
2
when
a
man
called
“Sam”
entered
the
Lava
Lounge,
a
gay
bar
in
Orlando.
Sam,
a
gay
resident
of
Washington,
D.C.,
was
in
Orlando
on
business,
and
went
out
to
meet
a
friend
for
drinks.
After
ordering
a
beer,
Sam
bumped
into
a
former
colleague
from
Washington,
someone
he
describes
as
“a
well-placed
political
operative.”
When
Sam
asked
the
man
how
he
liked
working
in
Florida,
the
man
replied
that
politics
in
the
state
was
“weird.”
How
so?”
Sam
wanted
to
know.
“He
began
telling
me
about
this
guy
who
used
to
be
the
head
of
the
Christian
Coalition,”
Sam
said.
“He
said
the
guy
is
gay
and
out,
and
goes
to
the
gay
bars
all
the
time,
but
is
involved
in
all
this
anti-gay
political
campaigning.
That
struck
me
as
incredibly
hypocritical.”
Twenty
minutes
later,
John
Dowless
walked
into
the
Lava
Lounge.
“The
guy
I
used
to
know
from
D.C.
pointed
Dowless
out
to
me,
and
I
made
it
a
point
to
go
over
and
meet
him,”
Sam
said.
“I
was
just
so
intrigued
that
someone
could
play
both
sides
of
the
fence
this
way.”
Dowless
identified
himself
as
gay
and
conflicted
about
how
to
reconcile
his
sexual
orientation
with
his
religion
and
his
political
beliefs,
according
to
Sam,
whose
account
of
Dowless’
statements
that
evening
was
witnessed
by
a
Washington
Blade
editor,
who
was
also
present.
Sam
describes
Dowless
as
handsome
and
affable,
a
person
who
was
easy
to
meet
and
talk
to.
“We
talked
about
his
work,
but
we
talked
a
lot
more
about
religion,”
Sam
said.
“I
am
a
fairly
devout
Christian
myself,
and
I
was
interested
in
why
he
felt
being
Christian
and
gay
were
so
completely
incompatible,”
Sam
said.
“He
was
very
adamant
that
it
just
wasn’t
possible
to
be
both,
in
his
understanding.”
After
a
few
drinks
at
the
Lava
Lounge,
Sam
jumped
into
his
rental
car
and
followed
Dowless’
silver
SUV
to
Southern
Nights,
another
gay
bar
in
Orlando,
where
the
two
men
continued
their
conversation.
All
together,
they
spent
approximately
two
hours
speaking
about
religion
and
homosexuality
that
night,
Sam
said.
“When
he
admitted
that
he
uses
homosexuality
as
a
weapon
to
win
campaigns,
I
got
the
feeling
this
guy
was
not
just
struggling
with
the
issue
of
being
gay
and
Christian,”
Sam
said.
“I
felt
maybe
he’s
a
ticking
time
bomb.”
But
Dowless
didn’t
let
their
difference
of
opinions
stop
him
from
making
a
pass,
Sam
said.
“John
[Dowless]
made
it
very
clear
he
was
interested
in
me,
that
he
found
me
attractive,”
Sam
said.
“I
just
told
him
I
was
out
with
friends
and
couldn’t
get
away
to
spend
the
evening
with
him.
Then
he
said
he
wanted
to
see
me
again.”
Dowless
took
out
a
business
card
and,
with
a
pen,
wrote
his
cell
phone
number
on
it.
“He
told
me
to
call
him
the
next
time
I
was
in
Orlando,”
Sam
said.
But
if
he
happens
to
go
back
to
Orlando,
Sam
won’t
be
calling
Dowless.
“I
could
never
abide
by
someone
being
gay
and
using
homosexuality
to
be
so
destructive
in
a
political
way,”
Sam
said.
“I
found
John
both
sad
and
deplorable.”
Reached
at
his
office
at
Millennium
Consulting
Inc.
in
Orlando,
Dowless
confirmed
that
he
had
been
working
for
the
Martinez
campaign
“for
two
or
three
months.”
But
he
declined
to
talk
about
his
sexual
orientation.
“Oh
come
on,
I’m
not
going
to
talk
about
that,”
he
said.
“I’m
just
not
going
to
address
that
with
you
or
anyone
else.
That’s
about
me,
not
about
the
Martinez
campaign.
“I’m
helping
Mel
Martinez,
who
I
believe
in,
and
who
is
a
good
candidate,”
he
said.
“My
personal
life
has
no
regards
to
his
campaign
and
it’s
no
business
of
yours
or
anyone
else’s.”
However,
after
being
confronted
with
the
fact
that
several
sources
identified
him
as
a
patron
of
the
Lava
Lounge
in
April,
Dowless
...
