The Grindr messages that I reviewed, as in the ones posted by The Dirty, instruct the men to text him at a phone number with a 731 area code. If you Google that number, you’ll find page after page connecting that number to either the White Squirrel Winery — which Sanderson owns — or sites where it is listed as Sanderson’s cell number. The texts I saw were sent by the same number. It is the same number I used to call Sanderson for comment on this story and have texted him on since. (Again, he claims that the texts were faked.) Those texts, in addition to including the nude photo, are frequently explicit in terms of discussing sexual activity. I’m not going to quote from the explicit parts, as Sanderson (allegedly) exchanged them with a reasonable expectation of privacy. But I will note that in his 2013 Grindr profile, which could be seen by anyone using the app, he writes, “I’ve seen a lot and done a lot, but I really haven’t had a connection with a guy and I have a burning desire to have that relationship. I like down and dirty guy to guy play too! So, I guess you might say, nothing will be held back …” (Sanderson says he did not write this.)

Gervin also noted the sticky ethics of “outing” someone, but since Sanderson was using his real details to communicate on a widely known gay dating site, he outed himself. And, of course, he has a long history of voting for anti-LGBTQ legislation in Tennessee. Gervin did a terrific roundup of his votes on that front:

As recently as this year, Sanderson supported four more anti-LGBTQ bills. Gervin also notes that Nashville station WKRN-TV recorded an interview with a man in 2016 who says he met Sanderson at his winery when he was 19 years old. The political science student says he wanted to get advice about how to break into politics and was instead given a shoulder massage and wine, including bottles of wine to take home, despite being underage.

As of now, Sanderson is denying it all, claiming that he’d been thinking of resigning for months and that it had nothing to do with the story being released this week. Imani Gandy on Twitter said it best: