Wife of anti-LGBTQ+, ‘family values’ Republican files for divorce over numerous affairs

Sep 26 2023
Written by Emily Chudy

Republican congressman for South Carolina Jeff Duncan

Wife of anti-LGBTQ+, ‘family values’ Republican files for divorce over numerous affairs (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

An anti-LGBTQ+ Republican congressman who regularly talked about “family values” is splitting from his wife – because of a number of alleged affairs.

South Carolina congressman Jeff Duncan, who has repeatedly touted the importance of “family values” and backed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation such as Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law, has been accused by his wife of having affairs, Business Insider reported. The pair have been married for 30 years and have three sons.

But now, Melody Duncan, has filed for divorce, citing at least two affairs.

Duncan, who has been in office for more than 12 years, has long advocated for “traditional family values”, often using this stance to campaign against issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

“As a life-long social conservative, I am a strong advocate for life and traditional family values,” Duncan says on his website, adding that abortion is “morally reprehensible”.

In May, he published an article entitled “Exposing the Left’s Destructive Education Agenda: They’re Coming for Your Children”, in which he championed Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and defended the incendiary, hard-line right-wing social media account Libs of TikTok. The left wants to “indoctrinate [children with] radical sexual orientation and gender-identity ideology”, he also claimed.

“Conservative policies are pro-child, pro-family, pro-parent and, most importantly, pro-life,” he wrote.

Duncan has spoken out against gender-affirming care, describing it as “mutilation”, despite studies confirming that it improves the mental health of transgender teenagers.

As a doctor, you took an oath to do no harm. Further, you know biologically there are only two genders—male and female. It’s time to put an end to the gender transitioning of children. These mutilations of children cause irreversible harm and clearly violate doctors' oaths to do…
— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) August 11, 2023

Last week’s court filings claimed that the congressman defended the alleged affairs with a “false narrative of a loveless marriage… to justify the hypocrisy of his public statements and private actions.”

Melody Duncan was described in the filings as a “dutiful wife [who] wholeheartedly supported” Duncan in his career.

The documents claim that the congressman had “admitted this adulterous relationship to many people, including the parties’ sons and members of his staff”.

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