A Congressional Candidate Accidentally Perfected Something Unexpected: The Totally-Fine-Kinda-Charming Sex “Scandal”

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By the standards of advertisements for sex paraphernalia, the photos of Christopher Gallant are unremarkable, even quaint. But by the standards of a U.S. congressional campaign, they’re a little out there.

In a series of images published this week by the New York Post and conservative local news outlet Messenger Papers, the Democrat running to flip a district on Long Island poses in various pieces of bondage gear, sometimes in sex positions with another naked man. Some photos show him in a collar attached to a padlock and chain; in others, he sports a muzzle and mitts. One picture depicts the candidate on all fours, in a cage, on the receiving end of an intimate encounter.

According to Gallant’s lawyer, the photos were taken several years ago “during a private, consensual photo session involving Chris and his then-partner.” In a statement to the New York Times, she said the candidate was friends with the owner of San Francisco kink outfitter Mr. S Leather, and Gallant let Mr. S use the images to promote the shop’s wares. The Post reports that the photos were on the store’s website from 2011 to 2020.

Conservatives are suggesting that the photos reveal Gallant to be undeserving of public office. On Facebook, the Suffolk County Conservative Party linked to the Post’s story and shared a photo of Gallant wearing a chest harness. “Is this who you want to represent us in Washington DC?” the party wrote.

Democrats aren’t flinching. The Suffolk County Democratic Committee responded to the release of the photos with an Instagram post reiterating the more respectable entries on Gallant’s résumé: “Guardsman, Fire Fighter, Air Traffic Controller, Union Leader.” Under a photo of the candidate in his Army fatigues, the post pooh-poohs the idea that Gallant’s sexy pics say anything important about him beyond one thing: “There is now documented proof that Chris Gallant has a six-pack.”

At one time, photos such as these might have torpedoed a congressional campaign. That’s probably why Gallant asked Mr. S to take the photos down when, his lawyer explained, he “began considering a future in public service.” But while Gallant’s chances of winning are still pretty slim—the Republican incumbent won by 10 points in 2024, and the Cook Political Report rates the district as solid GOP —there is no reason to believe that a bunch of photos of consensual sex acts taken 15-plus years ago to promote a friend’s business will cost Gallant many votes.

Sure, America in 2026 isn’t quite the “love is love” paradise it once seemed on track to become. Support for LGBTQ+ people is wilting , and gay politicians are being persecuted in horrifying ways . But the voters of Gallant’s district knew he was gay long before those photos emerged this week. Their opinions of him probably won’t be moved one way or the other by a glimpse of some fetish gear, which is an increasingly mainstream part of gay culture.