Quote Of The Day - Ted Haggard

"I know exactly what it feels like to have both sides hating you bitterly. Some Christians will throw him away. Some gays will crusade against him. If there is any truth to the accusations, this may be his opportunity to find a safe environment where he can process the embarrassing, internal battle that conflicts with his Christian ideals. He may need to work through that with someone who won’t judge or tear him apart." - Ted Haggard, speaking to the Advocate about Dr. George Rekers.

George Rekers: I Am Getting Spiritual Counseling For My Weaknesses

Even though he's still saying the he will sue all the involved parties for saying he is a homosexual, Dr. George Rekers told Christianity Today via email today that he is getting counseling to overcome the "weaknesses" that made him hire Jo-Vanni Roman.

"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 says that his wife will be retiring soon and will be available to lift his luggage in the future. Wait, didn't we all think Rekers is divorced?

Family Research Council's First President Headed Florida's DCF Until The Year Before George Rekers Was Paid $120,000

In 2002 then Florida Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Jerry Regier, another Family Research Council co-founder and a buddy of George Rekers, to head the Department of Children and Families, the very agency now at the center of controversy over Rekers' payment of $120,000 to testify in against allowing gay adoption. Shortly after Regier assumed the top post at DCF, the Miami Herald unearthed a 1989 article co-authored by Reiger and Rekers that made some outrageous claims.

In a 1989 essay entitled The Christian World View of the Family, Regier and co-author George Rekers railed against abortion and gay couples forming families, and emphasized that husbands have "final say in any family dispute.'' And the essay declares that ''biblical spanking'' that leads to "temporary and superficial bruises or welts do not constitute child abuse.'' The essay also said Christians should not marry non-Christians, that divorce is acceptable only when there is adultery or desertion and that wives should view working outside the home as ''bondage.'' The ''radical feminist movement,'' the essay adds, "has damaged the morale of many women and convinced men to relinquish their biblical authority in the home.'' Asked if the governor was aware of Regier's writings before they were raised by The Herald, Bush spokeswoman Katie Muniz said: "I have a simple answer. No.'' But, she added, "Mr. Regier has been an outstanding public servant for over a decade serving two presidents and a sitting governor. His record speaks for itself. Many of our nation's finest public servants past and present have been men and women of faith.''

Regier was the first president of FRC and prior to his 2002 DCF appointment by Jeb Bush, he ran for governor of Oklahoma. He left Florida's Department of Children and Families at the end of Bush's term in 2007. Now we need to find his fingerprints on those checks to George Rekers, even if they came a year after Regier left office. Why does the Family Research Council's co-founder and first president pal around with guys who hire male prostitutes? Call them and ask: 202/393-2100.

Florida Democratic Party Rips AG McCollum For Lies About Rekers

The Democratic machine in Florida is wasting no time in going after Attorney General Bill McCollum after this morning's revelation that he personally sent a letter recommending Dr. George Rekers be hired for the state's defense of its ban on gay adoption.

As soon as the story broke that Bill McCollum's expert witness for Florida's gay adoption trial was photographed traveling with a male escort from RentBoy.com, McCollum began distancing himself from Reverend George Rekers with a series of misleading statements in an effort to spread the blame. But revealing letters from 2007 surfacing today between McCollum and then Department of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Bob Butterworth show that while DCF initially declined to engage Rekers' services and expressed concern with his outrageous fees, McCollum personally and aggressively pushed Rekers as a witness.

In one letter, McCollum even wrote, "I believe that this expert and his testimony are necessary to ensure a successful result in this case." McCollum also rejected DCF's plan to spend taxpayer money on only one expert witness. Amazingly, Rekers was paid over $120,000 by McCollum's Department of Legal Affairs in two separate payments in 2007 and 2009, even though DCF only agreed to pay $60,900. "This story keeps unraveling, and Bill McCollum is the one standing in the middle of it," said Eric Jotkoff, spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, about McCollum's hiring of the discredited anti-gay witness. "When news first broke about Rekers' hiring of a male escort, McCollum blamed DCF for hiring him, and mislead Floridians about his personal plea for Rekers to be hired. But these letters clearly show that Rekers was Bill McCollum's handpicked witness, and he urged that taxpayer dollars be spent on Rekers over the initial protest of the DCF Secretary."

The Democratic frontrunner for governor of Florida is the politically moderate Alex Sink, who told LGBT activists at an Equality Florida event that she supported gay adoption when it was "in the best interest of the child." One of her Democratic opponents, Darrin McGillis, is distrustful of Sink's positions on LGBT rights.

Alex Sink, currently Florida’s CFO, essentially kicked off her campaign fundraising tour by receiving recognition from Equality Florida for past deeds. But some, like McGillis, are skeptical and feel that these awards may have been given prematurely because Sink is unwilling to commit herself to repealing the most damaging anti-gay law in the state. Sink has stated that she supports overturning Florida’s ban on gay adoptions – the only law of its kind in the United States. She has not yet announced any kind of stance on other issues important to the gay community such as ENDA, DADT or Florida’s Amendment 2. “When Sink said she couldn’t commit to gay marriage but she could commit to gay adoptions, I was offended,” says McGillis. “Someone observing the Sink campaign said she just doesn’t want to lose votes in smaller, rural communities in Florida. If you’re going to stand for equality, it should be across the board.”

Disgraced Rentboy Patron Dr. George Rekers Resigns From NARTH

Everybody's least favorite homosexual, the publicly shamed Dr. George Rekers, has resigned from the board of directors of NARTH, the nation's most repulsive "ex-gay" organization. Talking Points Memo has the story:

NARTH vice president of operations David Pruden tells TPMmuckraker that Rekers first offered his resignation last Thursday, and officially resigned today. NARTH is a group that promotes the idea that homosexuality can, and should, be cured. Pruden also denied a report in the Miami New Times that NARTH had been involved in helping Rekers respond to the media. "NARTH has never had any role in advising Dr. Rekers except to suggest that if he is innocent he needs to get a good lawyer," Pruden said in an email. "He has friends who are members of NARTH and they are free to talk with, advise, and needless to say, they are free to help him in any way they might select." "NARTH as an organization has taken no official role in this other than asking him to explain to us what has happened and in accepting his resignation," he said.

Rekers' name and photo still appears on NARTH's list of officers.

UPDATE: On his personal site, Rekers acknowledges his resignation and pledges to move forward with a defamation lawsuit.

"I am immediately resigning my membership in NARTH to allow myself the time necessary to fight the false media reports that have been made against me. With the assistance of a defamation attorney, I will fight these false reports because I have not engaged in any homosexual behavior whatsoever. I am not gay and never have been.” (May 11, 2010)

Yesterday a source told me that Rekers had decided against legal action. The above could just be blustering. Or my source could be wrong.

M. Spaff Sumsion - Rentboy

Musical satirist M. Spaff Sumsion, whose work is often heard on the Dr. Demento Show, has weighed in on the George Rekers scandal with Rentboy, an actually rather lovely (and hilarious) tune based on the Beatles' This Boy.

Lyrics to Rentboy. Download Rentboy.

Philip Huang - Rentboy

San Francisco performance artist Philip Huang gives us his take on the Dr. George Rekers scandal. I love it.

Rentboy.com On Rekers Scandal

Rentboy.com has posted a response to the Rekers scandal.

At Rentboy.com, it is our policy to protect the privacy of any escort advertising his services on our site--the same goes for clients. Information exchanged between consenting adults meeting on our site remains private. Mr.Rekers has built a highly public, lucrative career out of shaming gay men and women. If it is true that he took a rentboy "on vacation," then he has brought this negative attention on himself. We reserve judgment, we don't know all the facts. Just to be clear, Rentboy.com is not an escort agency, we are an ad listing service for male escorts, where men place their own ads and work for themselves, so that clients can contact them directly. Our mission is to create a non-judgmental space where anyone curious about exploring male-male companionship can hire a man by the hour. We remain open-minded and devoted to privacy for the people who use our site, but we can't take the risk out of leading a double life, or having a closeted or hypocritical career... If you're a famous heterosexual homophobe and you appear in public with a rentboy with your pants down, you're just asking for trouble.

I like the final line: "Excess baggage can indeed be heavy and there is nothing like a hot man to help you unload it."

Rentboy Two, Electric Boogaloo

Has another one of Dr. George Rekers' rentboys surfaced? A man calling himself Chaz, who says he's a "former porn star," announced on his blog today that many years ago he too was hired for sexytime by Dr. George Rekers.

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.

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.

Does anyone recognize Chaz from his porn career? We certainly aren't surprised to have another rentboy pop up to say he'd done some anal long-stroking with Dr. George Rekers. And the Chaz of long ago DOES look a lot like Rentboy 2010.

YouTubers On Dr. George Rekers

NARTH: Our George Rekers Might Be A Dirty Homo, But We Still Hate Queers

NARTH has responded to the prostitution scandal enveloping their star performer, Dr. George Rekers.

While NARTH is focused on the science of homosexual attraction, personal controversies often deepen the existing cultural divide on this issue. Such is the case in the recent news stories concerning one of our members, Dr. George Rekers. NARTH takes seriously the accusations that have been made,and we are currently attempting to understand the details behind these press reports. We are always saddened when this type of controversy impacts the lives of individuals, and we urge all parties to allow a respectful and thorough investigation to take place. At this difficult time for the families and individuals involved, we extend our sympathies. We also wish to reiterate our traditional position that these personal controversies do not change the scientific data, nor do they detract from the important work of NARTH. NARTH continues to support scientific research, and to value client atonomy, client self-determination and client diversity.

Rekers remains listed on the officers section of NARTH's site. For now, anyway. For those blissfully unaware, NARTH is by far the most repulsively foul of anti-gay groups. And that's saying something. According to NARTH, gay men are literally shit-eating pedophiles with the nonexistent "gay bowel disease." But we can be changed. And incidentally, I've been told they are following the Rekers story on JMG "very closely."

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.''

University Of South Carolina Erases Dr. George Rekers From Their Site

Whoops, who used to occupy this faculty page for the University of South Carolina? Man overboard! Box Turtle Bulletin's Timothy Kincaid asks:

I’m curious as to the exact criteria for removing any mention of Dr. Rekers. Was it because the University of South Carolina was delighted to have an anti-gay activist as a respected and privileged emeritus professor, but not so delighted to have a man who was revealed to be engaged in behavior that is homosexual in nature?

Hit the above link for the original pre-scandal image.

Rekers' Hooker: Yes We Had Sexy Time

Jo-Vanni Roman, the Rentboy.com escort hired by "ex-gay" activist Dr. George Rekers, revealed to the Miami New Times today that he and Rekers did indeed have sex (of sorts) on their ten day vacation through Europe.

The male escort hired by anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers has told Miami New Times that the Baptist minister is a homosexual who paid him to provide body rubs, once a day, in the nude, during their ten-day vacation in Europe. Rekers allegedly named his favorite maneuver the "the long stroke" -- a complicated caress "across his penis, thigh... and his anus over the butt cheeks," as Lucien puts it. "Rekers liked to be rubbed down there," he says. In his first interview since the New Times broke the story Tuesday, the 20-year old escort, who prefers to go by the name Lucien, contradicts Rekers' contentions that he hired the escort to help carry his luggage and that he was trying to save the soul of a lost sinner. Although Rekers does have physical ailments that make it difficult for him to haul suitcases, he wasn't hired to carry luggage on their European vacation, Lucien said. "It's a situation where he's going against homosexuality when he is a homosexual," Lucien says.

The Miami New Times promises further disclosures later today, including information about a confidentiality agreement Rekers reportedly asked Roman to sign.

JMG Readers Shut Down Florida AG Bill McCollum's Facebook Campaign Page

Thanks to the thousands of you that heeded my call to visit Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's gubernatorial campaign Facebook page, the page's administrators have repeatedly closed it down, wiping out all of the entries demanding his response to the Rekers scandal. My outclick tracker thingy tells me that 22,441 of you hit his page in the last 24 hours and I thank all 22,441 of you beautiful people, whether you left him a message or not. And big thanks to Michelanglo Signorile, who yesterday sent his listeners there too. We've gotten McCollum's attention, that much is certain.

Today we're waiting for a response from the Florida Department of Children and Families, to whom McCollum's office yesterday passed the buck regarding the $87,000 payment to Dr. George Rekers so he could continue his campaign to rip apart Florida's gay families.

Colbert Report On Dr. George Rekers

With a screenshot of JMG, but no mention. Oh, well!

Advocate Locates Geo/Lucien

The Advocate has learned the real name of the elusive Geo/Lucien, but the kid is still not talking.

“Lucien,” the young man at the center of an emerging scandal involving one of the most influential leaders of the "ex-gay" movement, is known on his Facebook and MySpace profiles as Jo-vanni Roman, The Advocate has learned. Reached Tuesday afternoon by phone, a man purporting to be Roman repeatedly declined to discuss any details of being hired by Rekers for a recent 10-day trip to Madrid and London. “I don’t think people realize how serious this has gotten, and I would have talked about this had my privacy been respected,” Roman said, referring to his Rentboy.com profile, which was posted Tuesday by Unzipped followed by several gay blogs. “There’s absolutely nothing else I can say,” Roman added. According to Facebook and MySpace profiles created by Roman, he is a 20-year-old Miami resident and a 2008 graduate of Felix Varela High School in The Hammocks, an unincorporated suburb located 20 miles west of Miami.

I've written Jo-Vanni via Facebook and again requested an interview. We're not holding our breath, but in the meantime, check out his 2008 teen angst-laden MySpace rant about the difficulty of finding "a nice guy in this fucking city."

Family Research Council Denounces Co-Founder Dr. George Rekers

"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.

"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." - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, simultaneously denouncing Rekers and pretending NOT TO KNOW WHO HE IS.

No knowledge of his activities? SRSLY? When they've been skipping hand-in-hand to every anti-gay conference in the country? Wow, THAT lie is almost Rekersesque, innit? MAN OVERBOARD!

Urban Dictionary

Dan Savage mints another one.

HomoQuotable - Dr. George Rekers

"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 accompany him on a recent trip. Contrary to Internet stories based on this slanderous article, following medical advice Professor George Rekers requires an assistant to lift his luggage in his travels because of an ongoing condition following surgery. His family, local friends, and even another university professor colleague have offered to accompany him on trips to lift luggage. Professor Rekers was not involved in any illegal or sexual behavior with his travel assistant." - Dr. George Rekers in third-person statement he posted on his personal site. Lying makes the Baby Geo cry, Georgie.