A North Dakota politician who opposed a state gay rights bill came out of the closet this week — after a local newspaper revealed that he had sent lewd pictures to a young man on the popular gay dating app, Grindr.

State rep. Randy Boehning confirmed to Fargo newspaper The Forum that he had sent Dustin Smith an unsolicited picture of his penis, among other risqué photos and messages, after the 21-year-old recognized the politician and approached the paper with the story.

"That's what gay guys do on gay sites, don't they?" Boehning told The Forum. "That's how things happen on Grindr. It's a gay chat site. It's not the first thing you do on that site. That's what we do, exchange pics on the site."

Boehning claims the pictures were made public as retaliation for voting against a law that would have expanded state discrimination laws to cover sexual orientation. A staunch conservative who had twice opposed similar bills, Boehning said a gay Republican staffer had warned him that "there would be consequences" for a dissenting vote this time around. He refused to name names.

But Smith denies having any political ulterior motive. He said he decided to offer up the information after he recognized the politician's picture from a news article and was struck by his hypocrisy. He was not acting at the behest of anyone at the Capitol, he told the paper.

"How can you discriminate against the person you're trying to pick up?" Smith told the newspaper.

Boehning said he helped vote down the bill because that's what his Fargo constituents would have wanted him to do. He also took issue with the language of the proposal, which would protect those "perceived" to be gay.

If the word "perceived" was removed, he may re-consider, he told The Forum.

The 52-year-old unmarried politician is a longtime Grindr user who is known on the app as "Top Man!," according to the paper. He said some people are aware of his sexual orientation, but many friends and family members were not. Boehning said he is also attracted to women.

Despite all of the pubic attention, Boehning said being outed came as a relief.

"The 1,000-pound gorilla has been lifted," he said. "I have to confront it at some point."