# Texas House candidate admits former work as prostitute **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089 "2006-02-18T14:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/1 "2006-02-18T14:49:50Z")
[House candidate admits former work as prostitute](http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3666449.html) > [@](#): > > DALLAS — A Dallas Democrat seeking election to the Texas House of Representatives has acknowledged that he once worked as a prostitute. > > Tom Malin, a salesman and actor, said he no longer works as a prostitute but conceded that his previous life could cost him the nomination in the March 7 Democratic primary. > > “I’ve made mistakes in my life, and I’ve stood before my creator and I’ve accepted responsibility for my behavior,” Malin told The Dallas Morning News for its editions today. [His political website](http://www.tommalin.com/bio.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/2 "2006-02-18T16:58:45Z")
I can’t recall the source, but I’ve read that a Texas Congressional rep once described working as “whoring as fast as I can.” Malin would fit right in. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/3 "2006-02-18T17:39:20Z")
Well good for him. The idea that a person shouldn’t be able to work in politics due to youthful acts isn’t something I support. If I want to go into politics in my 40s and can’t because I had a serious (now in remission) mental illness in my late teens that wouldn’t be very fair. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/4 "2006-02-18T17:41:55Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Well good for him. The idea that a person shouldn’t be able to work in politics due to youthful acts isn’t something I support. If I want to go into politics in my 40s and can’t because I had a serious (now in remission) mental illness in my late teens that wouldn’t be very fair. Elective politics isn’t fair, though. There is no affirmative action for legislators. It’s impossible to do and still have a democratic system. The only “fair” system for elections will happen when every voter is “fair”, which isn’t going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/5 "2006-02-18T17:49:17Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Elective politics isn’t fair, though. There is no affirmative action for legislators. It’s impossible to do and still have a democratic system. The only “fair” system for elections will happen when every voter is “fair”, which isn’t going to happen. Nonetheless, the more people that stand up against something the less powerful it can become (assuming there is no blowback from pushing too hard). I doubt gay marriage would’ve even been an issue 20 years ago. But people kept coming forward about their homosexuality and it made the issue less controversial to the point where an openly gay politican is more realistic now than it was back then. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/6 "2006-02-19T01:20:55Z")
I’m trying real hard to imagine a _female_ Congressional candidate admitting to once having been a call girl. And failing. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/7 "2006-02-19T01:29:16Z")
Okay, I was actually, somehow, thinking far beyond where you were stumped, **Beware of Doug**. (Man, I’m disagreeing with you all over tonight, aren’t I?) I had this image of a post-op, transgendered man. Who had been a female prostitute. I didn’t think he’d get the nomination, but I could see him running in California. (No, not Texas, at least.) ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/8 "2006-02-19T05:31:51Z")
I kinda wonder why he bothered to run. Didn’t he realize the media would go over his past with a fine tooth comb? According to the article, he had a **website** advertising his “services”, so it sounds like it’s not very far in the past for him. Maybe if it were a few decades in the past he’d have a shot. I could also almost see a female ex-prostitute having a chance, if she had a plausibly sympathetic story about being forced into it by outside circumstances. The problem this guy faces is that I think we can all agree that someone who merely came out as gay would face an uphill battle in getting acceptance from the voting public (not saying that it’s right, but it’s reality). So, it’s even harder to imagine the voting public embracing a man who not only had sex with men but did it for cold hard cash. If he has genuinely turned around his lifestyle, good for him. Still, as a voter, I would be wary of entrusting political power to someone who had displayed such bad judgement. I guess I am rather cynical and don’t believe most people actually do change their basic natures that much. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/9 "2006-02-19T05:41:50Z")
All I can say is, I’d fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/10 "2006-02-19T05:46:37Z")
I kind of wish he was a Republican just so it wouldn’t sound partisan for me to defend him, but really, I see no issue with this. It’s illegal, sure, but so is snorting coke and going AWOL. I’m sure this candidate’s opposition will try to use his past as a means to question his morality but the practical effect will still be that Republicans will vote Republican and Democrats will vote Democratic. There may be a very few Democratic voters who see prostitution as an unforgivable crime and moral disqualifier but I think those numbers will be negligible. This would really only be a legitimate political issue if the candidate had set himself up as a moral exemplar, or has decried prostitution in the past or has shown himself to be a hypocrite or a liar in some manner. I also cannot help but be struck by the irony that past experience as a whore would be seen as anything but helpful to anyone new to public office. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/11 "2006-02-19T06:08:45Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > All I can say is, I’d fuck him. But would you pay to fuck him? His campaign bio says he’s been in a number of TV shows > [@](#): > > As an actor, Tom appeared in Television, Film, and Stage Productions including Guiding Light; Sex and The City; The Sopranos; Spin City; Law and Order; Saturday Night Live; Passions; Frasier; Turtle Creek Chorale Guest Artist; When Pigs Fly; & Dinner at Eight. but I can’t find an IMDB listing for him. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/12 "2006-02-19T07:04:53Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > His campaign bio says he’s been in a number of TV shows > > but I can’t find an IMDB listing for him. They don’t list extras in IMDB, do they? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/13 "2006-02-19T07:47:26Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > I had this image of a post-op, transgendered man. Who had been a female prostitute. I didn’t think he’d get the nomination, but I could see him running in California. You mean a bit like [Georgina Beyer](http://www.georginabeyer.com/)? She didn’t even have a gay-friendly central Auckland or Wellington seat: she ran and won in the heart of farming country. I’m not a big fan of her politics, but she’s a truly remarkable woman. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/14 "2006-02-19T08:10:26Z")
First transsexual in the world elected mayor. First transsexual in the world elected to Parliament. :eek: Am I really on the same planet? Have Kiwis been taking evolution pills or something? Your race is evidently far advanced over my people’s primitive culture. How do you do it? Can I come over? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/15 "2006-02-19T19:50:35Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > First transsexual in the world elected mayor. > First transsexual in the world elected to Parliament. > > :eek: > > Am I really on the same planet? Have Kiwis been taking evolution pills or something? Your race is evidently far advanced over my people’s primitive culture. How do you do it? > > Can I come over? I dunno - probably “well, she’s not hurting me” tolerance rather than any sweeping desire to overturn the established order of things. There was a documentary on her a while back which was quite interesting: her constituency is the heart of farming country, which you’d expect to be pretty conservative, and the film-makers interviewed all these crusty old dairy farmers as to _why_ they’d voted for a transsexual ex-prostitute. The consensus seemed to be that, well, she might have taken a different path from them, and they were a bit puzzled by this transsexual thing, but there was no denying that she’d put the hard yards in more than some ex-lawyer suit sent up from Wellington, and she’d done a bloody good job as mayor, so why not vote for her? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/16 "2006-02-19T23:04:53Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > You mean a bit like [Georgina Beyer](http://www.georginabeyer.com/)? She didn’t even have a gay-friendly central Auckland or Wellington seat: she ran and won in the heart of farming country. I’m not a big fan of her politics, but she’s a truly remarkable woman. Wow. Looking at your further commentary. Yeah, I can see she’s remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/17 "2006-02-19T23:23:24Z")
So he’s running for a politcial office? Once a whore, always a whore. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/18 "2006-02-20T23:41:32Z")
It’s just that being able to vote free of prejudice, while it may seem like ordinary common sense to you, looks like a significant step forward in human evolution to me. Still waiting for my fellow citizens to get a ticket before the clue-train leaves the station. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-house-candidate-admits-former-work-as-prostitute/345089/19 "2006-03-08T17:31:43Z")
Update: [he lost](http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/03/030806texas.htm). > [@](#): > > A Dallas gay businessman whose past as a male prostitute was revealed in the closing days of the campaign has lost his quest for the Democratic nomination to run for the Texas legislature. > > Tom Malin had sought the party nod to run in District 108, which covers much of central Dallas and the Park Cities. > > Despite the publicity over his past Malin still managed 45 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.