Rekers To Miami Herald: I Am Not Gay!

In a letter written to the Miami Herald's LGBT issues blogger, Steve Rothaus, Dr. George Rekers is threatening a lawsuit against the Miami New Times for calling him a homosexual. According to Rekers, rentboy Jo-Vanni Roman called him today begging to him to tell the world that he was not hired to be a prostitute. Rekers says:

If today’s news story in the Miami New Times is accurate, I have been advised to retain the services of a defamation attorney in this matter, because the fact is that I am not gay and never have been. My travel assistant called me this afternoon earnestly asking me to clarify on my website that he worked for me as a travel companion and not as a prostitute. I completely agreed with my travel assistant that it is absolutely true that I hired him and he worked for me as a travel companion and not as a prostitute. I also read to him the first sentence that has been posted on my website for several days that says, “A recent article in an alternative newspaper cleverly gave false impressions of inappropriate behavior because of its misleading innuendo, incorrectly implying that Professor George Rekers used the Rentboy website to hire a prostitute to hire a prostitute to accompany him on a recent trip.”

Rekers goes on to recount the phone call, using the expression "life my luggage" six times. SNORK. So now the ball is back in Jo-Vanni's court. Did this phone call really happen? Is Jo-Vanni now concerned about a possible arrest? Much more likely is that Rekers has completely invented this entire story.

UPDATE: In a separate Miami Herald story, Jo-Vanni supports Rekers' version of events. Note that this interview was made yesterday, before today's Miami New Times story in which Jo-Vanni made the anus long-stroking claim.

Both Rekers and Geo, who declined to give his real name, deny they had a sexual relationship during their 10-day journey to Spain and England. "In all honesty, I did go on the trip with him,'' Geo, 20, told The Miami Herald on Wednesday. "He was setting me up as a companion. In all honesty, he's a very kind, family-values man.'' Rekers, 61, said via e-mail that he hired Geo as "an assistant to lift his luggage in his travels because of an ongoing condition following surgery.''

He added: "Dr. Rekers found his recent travel assistant by interviewing acquaintances. There was nothing inappropriate with this relationship. Professor Rekers was not involved in any illegal or sexual behavior with his travel assistant.'' Geo says Rekers -- the father of three grown sons -- hired him to carry luggage, be a companion and to translate Spanish to English during their time in Spain. "Nor did he pay me enough'' for sex, Geo said. "I was getting about $75 a day,'' Geo said, adding that he and his friends usually charge $300 to $500 a day for sex. Geo said he is a Miami Dade College student who became a prostitute to pay his bills. "I was just trying to get through school,'' he said. "I think I'm going to have drop my classes.'' Geo's parents know he's gay, but not that he's an escort. "Who the hell wants to tell them I was doing this stuff?'' he said. "I come from a very conservative Spanish family.''