Youngkin Demands Gay Candidate to Exit Race Over Nude Photos
Virginia governor pressures John Reid to exit the race over naked posts, which the Republican Lt. Gov. nominee firmly denies are his.
John Reid angrily rebuffed demands to withdraw from Virginia’s Lt. Governor race over allegations that he posted sexually explicit photos online.
Reid, a gay man and conservative talk show host in Richmond, is running unopposed for the second-highest office in the commonwealth after Republican Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity dropped out of the race.
Reid is the first openly gay nominee of either major party to seek statewide office in the Commonwealth. He is running alongside current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the sole Republican seeking the governorship, and Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is running for re-election.
After Herrity’s exit, Republicans appeared confident in their slate of candidates, hoping to gain an advantage over Democrats, who haven’t selected nominees for lieutenant governor or attorney general, by reaching out to voters as a united slate, months before the November election.
Reid, Earle-Sears, and Miyares were scheduled to appear at a campaign rally in Glen Allen, Va., with current Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, on April 30.
But Youngkin has soured on Reid’s candidacy and is demanding he exit the race.
According to reporting from The Richmonder, the request to withdraw came after Republican opposition researchers found sexually explicit posts with pornographic images on Tumblr. They believe the images are connected to Reid.
The Richmonder claims to have viewed some of the images on a Tumblr blog page that had a username matching one Reid uses on other social media accounts. The sexually explicit images were reposts and did not show Reid’s face.
No news outlets could specifically name the Tumblr handle, and the reporting is vague on this aspect of the story, but it presumably refers to Reid’s private Instagram handle, and not his official campaign Instagram account, @johnreidforva.
The Tumblr page with that handle matching Reid’s private Instagram appears to have been taken down.
An X account bearing the same handle also appears to have been deleted, though it is unclear whether the account ever belonged to Reid.
In a statement to The Richmonder, Reid denied that the images are connected to him.
“As long as I have been in the public space, I have been a target for malicious and salacious lies,” he told the newspaper. “This is the second overt attempt to try to force me from the race.”
On Friday evening, Reid posted a video to address the controversy. In it, he claims to have received a late-night phone call from “a local religious activist” and two others, threatening to release photos “that would destroy my life and that I would never work in all of America again” if he did not drop out of the race.
When he asked for evidence, he was shown pictures of him at a drag show in downtown Richmond.
The Democratic-leaning blog Blue Virginia posted screenshots of a website post from the Virginia Christian Alliance expressing outrage over Reid’s candidacy.
Those screenshots reference three photos:
- Reid tipping a drag performer by tucking dollar bills into the performer’s outfit.
- A picture of Reid with his partner, in which Reid is wearing a shirt reading, “Liberal in the Bedroom.”
- Reid, seated, surrounded by drag queens in a scene that the VCA claims is “spiritually offensive” and “an open mockery of Biblical values.”
“As I’ve said over and over on the radio, and in my speeches, drag is not for kids,” he said in the video. “But really, who cares what adults watch and what they do in an of-age restaurant, bar, or club? That extortion and smear attempt was ridiculous.”
Reid has received multiple demands to drop out of the race, with talk show callers alleging that “Christian voters” would never support his candidacy and that his presence on the ticket would doom Republicans’ chance of victory in November, thereby allowing Democrats to win and “destroy” the commonwealth.
He has remained defiant in the face of “vulgar threats,” “non-stop harassment,” insults calling him a “vile degenerate.” He noted that he has previously been harassed by right-wingers for being gay and “angry Leftists” who have called him a “traitor” to the gay community.
“What’s happened today was my worst fear, a total fabricated internet lie so basic that a middle schooler could have constructed it. It’s predictable, but what I didn’t expect was the governor I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence or offering me a chance to respond,” he said. ” I did not accept that, and I deeply resent it.”
He has demanded to see the evidence.
“Someone created a social media account with my Instagram name, a name which I’ve had for years, but this fake account reposted nude pictures of other people, models, porn models,” he said. “I can tell you, that’s not my account, and anyone on the Internet can open accounts with the same name or similar names as other people.”
Reid continues, “I’ve been openly gay for 30 years…. I met my partner over eight years ago…. Am I really expected to answer every single twisted question about my previous relationships, every person I ever had sex with, every dating app I was ever on?… Is anyone at the Richmond State Capitol, or in D.C., planning on doing the same?”
He concludes by saying, “It’s not my place to judge others, so I won’t. But I haven’t publicly performed or publicly posted anything pornographic. Have I seen porn? Yes. Have I had one-night stands? Yes. Are my exes all still in love with me? No. What more could I possibly tell you? And why am I the candidate who has to answer these questions on this topic? Let’s be honest, it’s because I’m openly gay and I have never bowed down to the establishment.”
Metro Weekly has reached out to Reid’s campaign for further comment. No response has been received as of press time.
Watch Reid’s full video post below:
Please watch and listen intently and hear the facts of the matter! Official Statement!!! pic.twitter.com/q5MxSorBZ9
— John Reid (@JohnReid4VA) April 25, 2025
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.