REVEALING

Former FL Guv Candidate Andrew Gillum: ‘I Do Identify as Bisexual’

The Democratic politician discusses his sexuality for the first time since being found in a hotel room with two men.

Andrew Gillum, who ran for governor of Florida in 2018, says he is bisexual.

“I don’t identify as gay but I do identify as bisexual. And that is something that I’ve never shared publicly before,” the Democrat said on The Tamron Hall Show Monday.

It’s the first time that Gillum has addressed his sexuality since March, when he was found with two men in a Miami Beach hotel room by police called to a suspected overdose.

The former Tallahassee mayor appeared on the show with his wife, R. Jai, who said she believes sexuality exists on “a spectrum” and that all she cares about is what “agreement” she and her husband have.

The bombshell emerged from the politician’s first major interview since March, when Gillum announced he would voluntarily enter a rehab facility two days after the hotel incident.

According to the Miami Beach Police Department report obtained by The Daily Beast, two officers responded to reports of cardiac distress at a Mondrian South Beach hotel room at around 1 a.m. on March 13, when they found Miami Beach Fire-Rescue already on the scene and treating Travis Dyson, 30, for a “possible drug overdose.” 

Aldo Mejias, who initially called police, later said that he arrived at the hotel room shortly after 11 p.m., where he discovered Dyson and “Andrew Gillum inside the room under the influence of an unknown substance,” the report states.

Mejias said Dyson opened the door but immediately “collapsed in a prone position” near the bed and started to vomit, the report says. Gillum, 40, was reportedly seen inside the bathroom vomiting. When Dyson, a reputed escort, started having “trouble breathing,” Mejias, 56, said he started to perform CPR and called authorities. 

“Inside of the hotel room, officers observed in plain sight three small clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth on both the bed and floor,” the report says.

Dyson, who was in stable condition, was later transported to “Mount Sinai for further medical treatment,” the report states. At the time, Gillum said he had been in Miami for a “wedding celebration” when fire responders were called to “assist one of my friends.”

“While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement,” Gillum said in a statement to The Daily Beast at the time.  

Two days later, Gillum announced he was going to rehab, calling the hotel incident a “wake-up call.” He also admitted in March that after losing the governor’s race in 2018 to Republican Ron DeSantis by less than 34,000 votes, he fell into a depression that led to alcohol abuse—something his father also suffered from.

During his interview with Hall, Gillum also addressed photos taken inside the Miami hotel room apparently showing him naked and lying in his own vomit.

“When that photo came out, I didn’t recognize the person on the floor,” he said. “I would say the reason why I went to that room is probably no different than how anybody might communicate with someone that they are in a friendship, relationship, whatever, with. I understand very well what people assume about that.”

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Tracy Connor

Pilar MelendezSenior National Reporter

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