18-year-old Kameryn Gibson is making headlines after he took out an ad in the m4m (men for men) “Casual Encounters” section of Craigslist featuring two bare-chested photos of himself and the statement: “Email me and I’ll tell you everything you need to know!” Of course, that in itself isn’t news, but the fact that 64-year-old Indiana state Rep. Phillip Hinkle answered the ad, and then allegedly offered money for sex, is!
Hinkle is a Republican with a history of supporting anti-gay legislation and is most famous in his home state for co-authoring the bill that created the “In God We Trust” license plate. When first asked about the scandal by The Star, Hinkle only said, “I am aware of a shakedown taking place.” Shakedown? I think the only think that got shaken down here is Hinkle’s towel when he did the man cougar mambo in the hotel room!
According to the original story from The Indianapolis Star Kameryn changed his mind about going through with the encounter after Hinkle revealed that he was a lawmaker in a room at the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis.
Kameryn then gave an interview yesterday with a local news station in which he claims the Craigslist ad was a joke between him and his sister Megan and he never intended to have sex. But as it turns out, Kameryn is no stranger to pitching a little online woo.
Here is a screen capture of his profile on BGCLive.com, a social networking site for gays and bisexuals:
(Click to enlarge)
For those of you not familiar with BGCLive, here is their own description from the site’s home page:
BGCLive.com is the largest gay/bi/trans social network where members communicate with Black and Latino Brothas/Sistas. BGC welcomes all members of the LGB&T community, including the Black Brothas/Sistas, Our Latino Brothas/Sistas, Our White Cousins and Our Far East Coast Cousins from China and India, we are all One Big Family. Anyone who thinks otherwise does not belong here.
Some highlights from Kameryn Gibson’s profile include: Under “Preferences – Position:” Kameryn put “Versatile bottom.” Under “Interests” he wrote “Relationships, Friendships, Hookups, Top, Have Car, Thugs.” And for “I Am Looking For” he put “ANY THUGS AND TO HAVE FUN.”
Another interesting thing about Kameryn Gibson’s profile is that most of his photos have the date January 28, 2006 in the lower right corner – which would mean he was 13 at the time they were taken. My guess is that Kameryn was savvy enough to add the date to the pictures in order to make him seem older. His account was created in May of 2009 (Which means he was 17 at the oldest when he signed up) and his current age on the site is listed as 20 – just like the Craigslist advert.
The photo at the top of this post may very well be one of the ones used in the Craigslist ad, which were described by The Star as Kameryn “shirtless with pants pulled below the top of his underwear.” He’s not exactly “shirtless” in that photo, but I could see describing it that way.
There were some additional photos on his profile not included here, including a SFW shot of his crotch and two “private photos” you have to get permission to see.
Obviously the fact that Kameryn has a profile on BGCLive in no way implies he is willing to have sex for money! That being said, Kameryn did agree to go with Hinkle to the hotel room, and he did accept an iPad, a Blackberry, and $100 from Hinkle to keep quiet. BUT, Kameryn would eventually (allegedly) turn down $10,000 in hush money from Hinkle’s wife and he and his sister did come forward with the story.
It seems to me that the Craigslist ad itself wasn’t a “joke” but perhaps following through on Hinkle’s offer was. Things got out of hand really quickly and Kameryn got himself out of there as fast as he could.
As far as Phillip Hinkle’s side of the story – it’s beginning to look like he literally got caught with his pants down, plain and simple – yet another social conservative masking his own homosexual tendencies by overcompensating with his public persona in the political arena.
[Editor’s note – The original version of this story didn’t talk much about Hinkle’s role in the scandal, giving the impression we were somehow making the story about Kameryn. It has since been edited to reflect the real story here – which is of course the fact that a conservative lawmaker allegedly solicited sex for money from a young man after answering a Craigslist advertisement!]
