So I hadn’t been in Washington, D.C., 24 hours before I learned that a gay friend of a friend of mine worked in the office of a U.S. senator from one of the states of the old Confederacy. In fact, the staff of this doltish Southern senator has had, and may still include, several gay employees.

There have been reports in local D.C. sites like AmericaBlog that gay people are well-represented on the staffs of homophobic GOP (sorry for the redundancy) senators. And if I happened on this bit of intelligence without even trying, then surely the identities of these uber-hypocritical senators must be common knowledge hereabouts.

On one level, I can’t really fault my gay brethren and sistren who need a paycheck. But it is revolting that a senator portrays himself or herself to the rubes way down home in Dixie (or wherever) as one of them — a bona fide homo-hater — in order to get their votes when, in fact, he or she is as comfortable around gay people as is your average Democrat is.

After some soul-searching and a heated conversation, I agreed not to reveal the senator’s name. Working on a congressional staff is a low-paying thankless job (albeit one that can lead to a cushy do-nothing life as a lobbyist). I really don’t want to bring scandal down on working folks. So — even though it is cold comfort indeed — I’m resolved to let history be the judge of the craven behavior of this Republican politico.

So here is a factoid that won’t be of any help identifiying our subject: This senator voted for the constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. It won’t help because all the Southern senators voted along party lines on that bit of nastiness.

Still, it makes you wonder if things weren’t a bit tense back at the office after that vote was recorded.