Richard Curtis

 Richard Curtis was born in 1959. He was elected as a Republican member of the Washington State House of Representatives from 2005 to 2007. He represented the Clark and Cowlitz counties.

 Curtis, who is married with two daughters, was well known for his stance against gays. In 2006 he voted against a gay rights bill. Even in 2007 he opposed domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.

 In October 2007 the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported that Richard Curtis was gay. He was alleged to have had sex with a boy called Cody Castagna. It said that they met in an adult book store and later had sex in a hotel room. Cody Castagna was known to have previously posed for gay pornography. Curtis was also alleged for cross dressing. He wore women’s clothes. Castanga tried to blackmail Curtis and extract money. He demanded $ 1000 from Curtis. Curtis initiated formal extortion charges against the boy.

 During the police investigation it was revealed that Curtis had sex with Castanga. However Castanga denied extortion which amounted to Class B felony. Curtis initially denied the charge of being gay but later resigned out of shame on 31 October 2007. He pleaded guilty for having caused pain to his family.