Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham addressed rumors that he is a homosexual in an interview with the New York Times, telling the Times that "I ain't gay."

The rumors were brought to media attention after a speaker at a South Carolina Tea Party rally earlier this year suggested that Democrats had threatened to expose Graham's sexuality.

When asked about that statement, Graham smiled and said, according to the Times, "Like maybe I'm having a clandestine affair with Ricky Martin. I know it's really gonna upset a lot of gay men - I'm sure hundreds of 'em are gonna be jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge - but I ain't available. I ain't gay. Sorry."

A spokesman for Senator Graham told WLTX on Thursday that Graham has denied similar rumors many times in the past, including a comment that Graham was "too light in his loafers" in 2001 by Dick Harpootlian, then head of the South Carolina Democratic Party.