As a member of the House of Representatives, in 1996 Graham voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. As a Senator, in 2004 he voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment. He received a rating of 0% from the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign in each reporting period from 1995-2008, with the exception of 1999, when he received a rating of 9%.I suppose his sexual orientation does matter, since he's apparently doing his best to deny rights to non-heterosexuals.
"If you talk with my travel assistant that the story called “Lucien,” you will find I spent a great deal of time sharing scientific information on the desirability of abandoning homosexual intercourse, and I shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him in great detail."posted by octobersurprise at 1:22 PM on May 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
"Like John the Baptist and Jesus, I have a loving Christian ministry to homosexuals and prostitutes in which I share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them..."And that's not all that you share with them.
And they come into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and says to him, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.' But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightway, going in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon him, loved him and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And going out of the tomb they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God.posted by ts;dr at 1:50 PM on May 4, 2010 [4 favorites]
And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan</blockquote
And exactly how, sir, did you discover half way through your trip that Lucien is a prostitute?
Homosexuality and Biology.Respected scientists such as Simon Levay and Dean Hamer (among others) would take issue that they are engaged in "bad science."
The Gay Gene and Evolution: A Problem?
Serious question: Is there a psychological term for this sort of denial? Where one person vehemently vilifies/demonizes/attacks other people for something that they are unable to deal with in themselves?"Is there a psychological term for this sort of denial? Where one person vehemently vilifies/demonizes/attacks other people for something that they are unable to deal with in themselves?"
posted by zarq at 3:26 PM on May 4
At this rate, the Log Cabin Republicans are going to be the least gay members of the GOP before long.posted by fatbird at 6:06 PM on May 4, 2010 [4 favorites]
Rekers was an expert witness in a 2004 case involving gay adoption in Arkansas, which had banned LGBT people from adopting in 1999. In December 2004, Pulaski County Circuit Court judge Timothy Fox ruled against the state of Arkansas. Furthermore, he called Rekers' testimony "extremely suspect."[...]In 2008, Rekers was also an expert witness in In re: Gill, a case defending Florida's gay adoption ban. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman ruled against the state. In her decision, she said "Dr. Rekers’ testimony was far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant scientific evidence. Dr. Rekers’ beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy."So at least 2 judges have found his testimony worthless. I'd love to know what his demeanor at the trial was; maybe he gives off a strong gay vibe while railing against gays.
Let's start with this. Given what you know - that this man publicly is viciously against homosexuality, but privately pays young homosexuals to have sex with him - would you be happy if he were spending dozens of hours, alone, with your 16-year-old son?Because the author of the article is implying that Rekers may have sexually abused his adopted children, particularly the 16-year-old boy.Which there is no evidence whatsoever to support, BTW. It's a ridiculous as Reker's expert testimony in support of bans on adoptions by gay parents."
I spent a great deal of time sharing scientific information on the desirability of abandoning homosexual intercourse, and I shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him in great detail.
"In the past 24 hours FRC has received calls regarding Dr. George Rekers and his connection with the Family Research Council. After reviewing the historical records we did verify that Dr. Rekers was a member of the original Family Research Council board prior to its merger with Focus on the Family in 1987.Since the scandal broke information regarding Rekers has been scrubbed from FRC's website.
Reports have been circulating regarding Dr. Rekers relationship with a male prostitute. FRC has had no contact with Dr. Rekers or knowledge of his activities in over a decade so FRC can provide no further insight into these allegations.
While we are extremely disappointed when any Christian leader engages in the very activities that they 'preach' against, it is not surprising. The Scriptures clearly teach the fallen nature of all people. We each have a choice to act upon that nature or accept the forgiveness offered by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and do our best to ensure our actions, both public and private match our professed positions."
"You have as much information as we do. Before this released we didn't have this much information. All we had was a simple accusation that he was with a 'rent boy' so that was all we were able to talk about with him. His answers (as well as his demeanor) showed that the story wasn't exactly as it seamed [sic]. There are certain accusations that would and wouldn't surprise certain people about others. This comes as a complete surprise as Dr. Rekers is not only very old and in very poor health, but also very nice and soft spoken, so until we have further information or proof of this incident it remains rumor and speculation."posted by ericb at 4:26 PM on May 5, 2010
"Lucien decided to speak out after a heart-to-heart with a friend, Michael, who alerted him to the grim realities of his client's anti-gay activities. Lucien, who had originally declined to speak about the trip, now says he can do little good by protecting his erstwhile, fundamentalist client....Lucien now offers Rekers a counterproposal: 'In all honesty, he should disassociate himself from these [anti-gay] groups.'"Good for him.
"Anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers contends in an earlier post on Riptide that he did not hire a young gay escort named Lucien as a prostitute. But what the minister -- who hasn't returned calls seeking comment -- likely didn't realize is that Miami New Times reporters were sitting beside Lucien during a candid conversation over speakerphone."posted by ericb at 7:35 AM on May 7, 2010
"The office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, for whom George Alan Rekers testified in the state's case seeking to uphold the ban on gay adoption, has released a statement:posted by ericb at 12:41 PM on May 7, 2010'As hired counsel for the Florida Department of Children and Families, our office is committed to providing our client with the best possible legal representation in this matter. Dr. Rekers, a professor emeritus from University of South Carolina and a neuropsychologist with a degree from UCLA, came to our attention by recommendation from another academic after an exhaustive search for potential expert witnesses who were willing to testify. Dr. Rekers had exceptional credentials and he had provided testimony in similar cases on two separate occasions, one of which was a Florida case in Federal Court. The contract was executed at the direction of the Department of Children and Families, and the ACLU did not object to his position as an expert at the hearing. He has completed his testimony and is no longer involved in this case.'As Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel notes, the statement does not address the question of how Rekers could possibly be a credible witness.
Maxwell also points us to some new revelations from Equality Florida, that Rekers was not paid $87,000 in taxpayer money as originally reported, but a much higher amount of $120,000."
"In a city, in the USA, when I was in my 20’s, I committed the illegal act of prostitution with a man named George Rekers. To divulge more information regarding the time and place, at this time, would not benefit me, legally. I was sitting in my apartment, watching TV when my pager went off. It was a caller, responding to an ad I had placed in the escort/masseur section of a local gay magazine. The caller was George Rekers, and he told me his real name, a requirement I had for all of my clients who wanted “outcall” service, meaning that I would travel to their hotel for a “session”. If anything happened to me, the clients name and info would be sitting on my dresser for my roommate to find. Rekers was very specific about the kind of service he expected for the $150 he agreed to pay me. He insisted on only safe activity, and repeatedly asked me if I was “clean”, meaning disease free. I assured him that I was.Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!
Rekers wanted a full body massage, and he wanted light, sexual contact. He referred to himself as being “very vanilla”, which I later learned means, no oral or anal. As an escort, I remembered clients like this the most because they are easy money. I fulfilled his request, and by the time I was finished, there wasn’t a single part of his body that my hands had not touched. He wanted a light tickling of his skin, just barely touching his skin, as I glided my fingers up and down his spine, all the way into his crack. He shivered with pleasure with every stroke. I wasn’t in the habit of asking my clients any personal questions. I did, however, answer several questions George had for me. He was very curious to know more about my porno career, which, he had not previously been aware of. When I explained it to him, he seemed repulsed when I got into the details of the oral and anal sex scenes. I sensed that George was struggling with his sexuality, but I had no idea that he was a monster, until now."
He wanted a light tickling of his skin, just barely touching his skin, as I glided my fingers up and down his spine, all the way into his crack. He shivered with pleasure with every stroke.
“I used to feel sorry for these closeted religious fanatics, but not anymore. Every single one of them should be exposed, ridiculed and run out of town. I don't care how miserable and confused they are; they have used their power to destroy the lives of others, they push nonsensical and dangerous ‘therapies,’ and they tell lie after lie about gay people in order to pursue right-wing power. In some cases they're not exactly race-sensitive. Rekers also advised that the adoption ban should be expanded to include Native Americans because they are also at higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse. ‘They would tend to hang around each other,'‘ Rekers testified, ‘So the children would be around a lot of other Native Americans who are ... doing the same sorts of things.’”*posted by ericb at 6:48 PM on May 7, 2010
“George Rekers, a leader of the ex-gay movement who was caught recently employing a male escort, paid the escort $75 a day for his services during a 10-day trip to Europe, which included carrying luggage and daily one-hour massages, according to a contract obtained by CNN.posted by ericb at 6:53 PM on May 7, 2010
The escort, ‘Lucien,’ gave AC360 a copy of the contract, which also stipulated that Rekers would pay for his airfare. Lucien, which is not his real name, will appear on the show tonight.
…The contract also suggests Rekers had employed the escort before their trip.
He was to give the massages ‘using the same procedures (‘Lucien’) provided to George Rekers in Florida.’”*
"In a follow-up e-mail to Christianity Today, Rekers said that his wife will be retiring soon and will accompany him on trips when their sons are unavailable.Shut up, you hypocrite. No one's buying the crap spewing out of your mouth anymore.
'I confessed to the Lord and to my family that I was unwise and wrong to hire this travel assistant after knowing him only one month before the trip and not knowing whether he was more than a person raised in a Christian home,' Rekers said. 'I also confessed to the Lord and to my family the sin of thereby putting myself into a vulnerable situation where I tragically became subject to false allegations.'
Rekers said that he regrets 'unanticipated harm' for his 'unwise decision,' and briefly mentioned part of the trip. 'One thing for which I am grateful is that my travel assistant openly shared his spiritual doubts with me during the trip and he did let me share the gospel of Jesus Christ with him with many Scriptures in three extended conversations.'
Rekers said he is being advised by a team of three Christian counselors. 'And I have committed myself to ongoing meetings with an experienced pastor and counselor from my church, so I can more fully understand my weaknesses and prevent this kind of unwise decision-making in the future.'
Rekers declined a phone interview with CT. 'Because this has become a legal matter concerning defamation, Professor Rekers has been advised not to grant interviews,' an unnamed respondent said in an e-mail from his website."
"Untrammeled homosexuality can take over and destroy a social system. If you isolate sexuality as something solely for one's own personal amusement, and all you want is the most satisfying orgasm you can get - and that is what homosexuality seems to be - then homosexuality seems too powerful to resist. The evidence is that men do a better job on men and women on women, if all you are looking for is orgasm .... It's pure sexuality. It's almost like pure heroin. It's such a rush. . . . Marital sex tends toward the boring end. Generally, it doesn't deliver the kind of sheer sexual pleasure that homosexual sex does."posted by ericb at 9:50 AM on May 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
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