It’s another case of one of our elected leaders who says “do as I say, not as I do.”
State Senator Jeff Miller (R-Cleveland) has special ties to Tennessee ’s GLBT community. Not only is his brother Gregg gay, but he also sponsored the legislation that requires a vote on a constitutional amendment that would prevent gays and lesbians from marrying in Tennessee or having marriges that are recognized in other states recognized in Tennessee.
Sen. Miller has made a name for himself as a champion of marriage, the family and family values. But, it seems that his version of “family values” is different for himself than those he talks about on the campaign trail.
News this past month that his current wife of 15 years, Brigitte Suzanne Miller, has filed for divorce, alleging "inappropriate marital conduct,” wasn’t quite a surprise to this newspaper.
Rumors about Miller and his “inappropriate” behavior have circulated for the past few years. Though Miller has gone on record “vehemently” denying allegations of marital misconduct, we suspect that his wife wouldn’t be filing for divorce based on mere suspicion. Rumors continue to circulate in the community that perhaps Miller has even fathered a child during one of his “inappropriate” moments. We hope the truth to all these matters comes to light during the divorce proceedings, and we hope for his family's sake, that they are just rumors.
As an elected public official, Miller lives his life in a glass house. He’s said to the media that his divorce was a “private matter.” We don’t think so. We feel that our lives as part of the GLBT community are “private matters” but clearly he doesn’t agree.
If Jeff Miller wanted to live the single life and hang with the babes, then he certainly has every right to do so. But on the chance that he thinks he has the right to practice that life on one side and champion the God-Bless-America family values on the other, he’s wrong. It doesn’t work that way.
