Box Turtle Bulletin

NARTH Responds To Rekers Controversy

The National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality just sent this statement out moments ago:

NARTH RESPONDS TO THE RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE OF DR. GEORGE REKERS

The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is a professional scientific organization with hundreds of academic, research, and clinical members dedicated to assisting individuals dealing with unwanted homosexual attractions. 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.

Translation: Pay no attention to that man hiding behind the curtain. Or the closet door, as the case may be.

Univ. of S. Carolina dumps Rekers from website

As recently as this morning, here’s what you saw when you searched the website of the University of South Carolina medical school:

Now the site looks a little different:

That was quick.

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?

We have inquired with the office of the President of the University for an explanation.

(hat tip to a reader who caught the change)

Rekers and Roman had sex (kinda)

What is sex?

Have you ever noticed that the definition of sex isn’t really a problem when it’s all above board. When both parties are legally, emotionally, and socially entitled to do whatever they want, sex includes all sorts of activities. It can be hardcore and involve the exchange of fluids or it can be mild and intimate and involve little actual genital contact. When there’s no guilt to be assigned, sex is whatever lifts your luggage.

But when it is illicit, when cheating and lying gets involved, then sex has very very rigid narrow definitions that let a weasel dance around in declaration of innocence. “I did not have sex with that woman!”

Or, in this case, “Professor Rekers was not involved in any illegal or sexual behavior with his travel assistant.”

The Miami New-Times has now provided additional information about the relationship between Dr. George Rekers and Jo-vanni Roman (who prefers to be identified as “Lucian”), his RentBoy/travel assistant/suitcase lifter.

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 “long stroke” — a complicated caress “across his penis, thigh… and his anus over the butt cheeks,” as the escort puts it. “Rekers liked to be rubbed down there,” he says.

This is probably a lot less hardcore than many folks imagined. And Rekers may insist, “oh, but that isn’t sex, I only paid for a massage.”

But I think that he may only be playing a game of deception. If, indeed, there is nothing untoward about the services for which Lucian was procured, if Rekers truly believes that there was no “sexual behavior”, then why didn’t he simply announce, “I hired the young man to accompany me to Europe to give daily nude massage” and let that statement stand on its own?

Stories From the Frontlines: “I Worked to Protect YOU, Mr. President”

Today’s letter to President Barack Obama urging repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” comes from former Staff Sergeant Anthony Moll of the U.S. Army. He left the service just ten weeks ago after having joined the Army shortly after 9/11:

When I enlisted in 2002, I knew what DADT said, but nothing could prepare me for what it meant.

I had never been closeted about my sexual orientation so joining meant not only keeping quiet, but also being asked to lie to those whom already knew.  While my leaders were instilling the values of honesty and integrity in me, the law in place was forcing me to do the opposite.

I knew that despite serving with distinction as a military police officer protecting fellow soldiers and their families from harm, I could face expulsion.  During my service I was hand-picked as a Phoenix Raven, an Air Force program in which only a handful of soldiers are asked to participate.

While serving as a handler in the military’s working dog program, I worked with the Secret Service in detecting explosives – working to protect you.

In 2008, I was recognized as my installation’s Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year and Joint Service Member of the Year.  Despite this distinction, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law treated me as a second-class citizen.

Ssgt. Moll has left the army and is now working for the Human Rights Campaign, where he works to repeal DADT. You can read the full letter here. All of the letters from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s campaign are available here. The SLDN explains why they are publishing this series of letters from active and former servicemembers:

“Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama” is a new media campaign launched to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal, will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes! We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.

Rekers’ FOURTH clarification of just how he came to select his travel companion

Earlier today we posted Dr. Rekers’ explanation about why he was traveling in Europe accompanied by Jo-vanni Roman (“Lucian”/Geo). He now appears to have found that particular explanation to be inadequate and has revised it to read as follows:

***MISLEADING INTERNET REPORTS ABOUT PROFESSOR 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 assist him in his travel. Dr. Rekers found his recent travel assistant by interviewing different people who might be able to help, and did not even find out about his travel assistant’s Internet advertisements offering prostitution activity until after the trip was in progress. There was nothing inappropriate with this relationship. Professor Rekers was not involved in any illegal or sexual behavior with his travel assistant. [emphasis in original]

The new part is in bold.

Ya know, if I were, say, a straight married 61 year-old anti-gay activist who unexpectedly discovered that my 20 year old traveling companion was a gay prostitute, and If I were questioned about why I was traveling with the young man, I would probably respond immediately with the facts that led to my association with him. And they would likely not be nonsensical.

I’d say, “he’s the son of my colleague” or “we used to be neighbors” or something that showed the basis of the relationship. Because, at this point, it’s pretty hard to backtrack from “I evangelize to gay prostitutes” and end up with the rather vague “I interviewed different people”.

Unless, of course, that is the the prelude to further revelations about other young men who interviewed for the position.

Every European Vacation needs a luggage lifter

Oh, my gosh!! Is that Geo helping Chevy Chase lift that suitcase?

(OK, maybe I went too far with this one)

Rekers’ third “clarification” is even funnier than the others

This one is official. Dr. George Rekers posted the following statement on his Professor George website:

***MISLEADING INTERNET REPORTS ABOUT PROFESSOR 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.

You see, Dr. Rekers was advised to get an assistant to lift his luggage. And although his family, local friends, and even another university professor colleague have offered to accompany him on trips to lift luggage, they all lacked some essential quality needed in an assistant.

So that is why Dr. Rekers turned to RentBoy.com, to find an assistant adequate to meet the task of lifting luggage. He didn’t hire a prostitute, he hired an assistant, a 20-year-old, 5′ 9″, 132 lb. assistant to be exact, to help with all that heavy bulky luggage.

Argentina’s House Approves Same-Sex Marriage Bill

After several fits and starts with five same-sex couples becoming married after court action (and several of those couples seeing their marriages annulled upon appeal), the Argentina House of Deputies approved a bill granting marriage equality on a 125-109 vote, with 6 abstentions and 16 absences, Blabeando reports. The vote came after more than eleven hours of debate. According to Maria Rachid, Director of the Argentinian LGBT Federation (FALGBT), this marks the first time that a national legislative body has voted in favor of same-sex marriage in all of Latin America.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to be a much tougher challenge for passage.

Stories From the Frontlines: First Lieutenant Laura Slattery, U.S. Army

Lt. Laura Slattery (right)

Today’s letter to President Barack Obama urging repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” comes from former First Lieutenant LAura Slattery of the U.S. Army. She is a West Point graduate, having attended because the school’s code of honor was so important to her. “Integrity has always been, of all the values, the one I hold most dear.” But after graduating, she found herself falling in love with another woman while deployed in the Pacific.

The values of physical work, integrity, service and team building made the Army an almost ideal place for me. I may have continued serving if I had felt more a part of the team.

I was well-liked and had friends, but not being able to share the biggest struggle in my life (and the biggest joy) with my peers and military friends prevented me from really forming the kind of friendships that one needs to feel as an integral part of a team.

It’s the warmth and support of a team that is truly needed for real “unit cohesion” among the officer corps and with the troops. It is necessary to continue to risk life and limb for each other.

In the end we risked everything not only for our country, but for our country personified in and by our buddies, members of that integral team. Not feeling that, I resigned my commission in September of 1991.

You can read the full letter here. All of the letters from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network’s campaign are available here. The SLDN explains why they are publishing this series of letters from active and former servicemembers:

“Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama” is a new media campaign launched to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal, will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes! We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.

Pictures from the mission field

We now have pictures from Dr. George Rekers’ evangelical crusade to Europe to convert Miami’s gay prostitute population. Joe.My.God is now revealing the identity of Rekers’ luggage lifter/potential convert.

Among Lucian/Geo’s many talents are “Travel Companion, Tour Guide, Interpreter.” He sounds very useful. And considering he’ll “do anything you say as long as you ask”, he sounds like an easy convert.

Perhaps it was research

Prominent anti-gay activist and ex-gay supporter Dr. George Rekers has provided a few explanations for why he was accompanied to on his European holiday by a slim blond young-looking 20-year-old gay male prostitute.

First he didn’t realize that the young man he met on the Rentboy.com website was a rent boy and he only brought him along to lift his luggage. And then he explained that he hired young Lucian for ten days of fun fun fun in Europe so as to evangelize to him.

But if neither of those genuine and deeply heart-felt explanations sounds convincing, he can always just say that he was conducting research for his website:

Rekers’ Defense (you may want to read this somewhere that it’s OK to laugh out loud… or cry)

Dr. George Rekers, anti-gay activist extraordinaire, has now clarified to blogger Joe.My.God exactly why it was that he was vacationing in Europe with a gay prostitute. It was evangelism.

I have spent much time as a mental health professional and as a Christian minister helping and lovingly caring for people identifying themselves as “gay.” My hero is Jesus Christ who loves even the culturally despised people, including sexual sinners and prostitutes. Like Jesus Christ, I deliberately spend time with sinners with the loving goal to try to help them. Mark 2:16-17 reads, “16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” In fact, in a dialogue with hypocritical religious leaders, Jesus even stated to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. ” (Matthew 21:31).

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 (see I Corinthians 6:8-11). Contrary to false gossip, innuendo, and slander about me, I do not in any way “hate” homosexuals, but I seek to lovingly share two types of messages to them, as I did with the young man called “Lucien” in the news story: [1] It is possible to cease homosexual practices to avoid the unacceptable health risks associated with that behavior, and [2] the most important decision one can make is to establish a relationship with God for all eternity by trusting in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, including homosexual sins. 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.

You know, Rekers may not have actually had sex with the kid.

And I don’t doubt that he did bore him with endless evangelism. That’s the justification that Rekers gives himself to try and rationalize his own urges to travel for ten days in the company of a twink. It was the excuse that allowed him to dance on the edges of his own unwanted desires but yet somehow see it as noble.

But behind all of the claims of being “like Jesus” is the sad truth: George Rekers, after all this time fighting “homosexual sins”, still is compelled to the company of gay men. And, unable to recognize and accept his attractions which would allow him to construct an ethical life and flow his attractions into a healthy response, he has pushed them down and smothered them and now has no power over them.

So instead there is George Rekers cruising Rentboy, telling himself that he’s only there for the evangelism, that he’s feeling compassion not lust, that it’s ok because he won’t go that far too far not quite not yet really it’s not sin really he won’t have sex with them.

This time.

Whatever Lifts Your Luggage, George

The '70's era porn-stache and comb-over combo should have been a clue.

George Rekers’ excuse for having trolled through Rentboy.com to find a nice, slender blonde male hooker to accompany him on a ten-day excursion through Europe to help, err, lift Rekers’ luggage is threatening to spawn the best new euphamism since “Hiking the Appalachian Trail.”

Meanwhile, Joe Jervis decided to ask Rekers for recommendations on how to find the hottest male prostitutes. Rekers unwisely replied — and don’t you love it when they’re dumb enough to dig their hole even deeper? It turns out that all Rekers is interested in is “helping and lovingly caring for people identifying themselves as ‘gay’.” Right. Lovingly, I’m sure. And he’s apparently going to do that one very expensive rent-boy at a time, at probably at least a thousand dollars a pop for an overnight, times ten days, plus airfare and expenses.

But here’s the best part. Once you slog your way through the rest of Rekers’ reply, past tons of eye-glazing Scriptual quotations, and past the part where he compares himself to John the Baptist and Jesus, Rekers says:

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.

Uh huh. “Sharing the Gospel” would make another great euphamism, but it probably won’t catch on. Oh well, whatever lifts your luggage, George. Whatever lifts your luggage.

Anti-Gay/Ex-Gay Activist George Rekers Vacations With “Rentboy”

The Miami New Times has an explosive exposé revealing that anti-gay activist George Rekers has taken several vacations with a “rentboy” whom the paper names as “Lucien.”  According to the paper, Rekers was photographed on April 13, 2010 at Miami International Airport returning from an extended overseas trip with the twenty-year-old.

George Rekers has a very long history in anti-gay politics. He has worked closely with Paul Cameron and was the brainchild behind Cameron’s moribund online “Journal.” He spoke as a so-called “expert witness” in support of Florida’s adoption ban, in which he also said that he would consider banning Native Americans from adopting because research shows that they are also at much higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse. He is an officer at the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), where he also serves on their Scientific Advisory Committee and as an associate editor of NARTH’s  Journal of Human Sexuality. (NARTH, you may recall, has had quite a number of controversial figures connected with that organization. More recently, another member of their Scientific Advisory Committee, Arthur Goldberg, was found to have been a convicted Wall Street swindler. Goldberg has since resigned from NARTH.)

Rekers and Goldberg are also members of the “Pediatric Psychosocial Development Committee” of the fake pediatrics group, American College of Pediatricians (not to be confused the American Academy of Pediatrics, which boasts 60,000 pediatricians as members). Rekers has worked closely with Pat Robertson’s Regent University, and is a cofounder wtih James Dobson of the Family Research Council.

And he likes his rentboys young and willing to travel:

Reached by New Times before a trip to Bermuda, Rekers said he learned Lucien was a prostitute only midway through their vacation. “I had surgery,” Rekers said, “and I can’t lift luggage. That’s why I hired him.” (Though medical problems didn’t stop him from pushing the tottering baggage cart through MIA.)

Uh huh. Given the thousands of dollars per day plus expenses that is typically charged by rentboys when they travel with their clients, that’s one very expensive porter.

Yet Rekers wouldn’t deny he met his slender, blond escort at Rentboy.com — which features homepage images of men in bondage and grainy videos of crotch-rubbing twinks — and Lucien confirmed it.

…In his interview with New Times, Lucien didn’t want to impugn his client, but he made it clear they met through Rentboy.com, which is the only website on which he advertises his services. Neither Google nor any other search engine picks up individual Rentboy.com profiles, any more than they pick up individual profiles on eHarmony or Match.com. You cannot just happen upon one.

“Lucien” was very protective of Rekers — as every good male escort would be — but he did say that Rekers “likes younger guys to hang out with.” New Times reports that Rekers “frequently takes in foster children and that four years ago he adopted a 16-year-old boy.” The son declined to be interviewed.

Engle Offers Tactical Support For Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill

Lou Engle on stage with other supporters of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill at a TheCall rally in Kampala (Michael Wilkerson / Religion Dispatches)

Religious Dispatches as a very detailed eyewitness account by Michael Wilkerson of Lou Engle’s participating at an anti-gay rally in Kampala last Sunday. Wilkerson points out that Engle didn’t mention the the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill directly, but given the context of the entire all-day rally he didn’t need to.

Preceding Engle’s performance at the rally, Julius Oyet called on Parliament “not to debate heaven. We call on them to pass the bill and say no to homosexuality.” Oyet, you may recall, is the self-styled “apostle” who is vice-president of the Born Again Federation, an umbrella group of some 10,000 Ugandan Pentecostal churches.

Oyet was in the Parliament’s visitors gallery and was commended by Parliament’s speaker when the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced last October. He is also an Oyet is an adherent to “Seven Mountains” theology, a Dominionist theology that calls upon Christians to “establish the Kingdom of God on earth” by claiming possession to “the Seven Mountains of Culture namely: Business, Government, Religion, Family, Media, Education and Entertainment.” Oyet is also the head of the College of Prayer International’s Uganda branch. MP David Bahati, the credited author and sponsor of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, is one of eight MP’s serving on COPI’s “servant leadership team” in Parliament.

According to Religion Dispatches, Oyet spent considerable time at the rally pushing for the passage of the draconian bill:

Oyet also brought up the common Ugandan perception that homosexuality is an import of the West which “recruits” new members primarily by bribing children. “Father, our children today are being deceived by the West. To buy them, to give them school fees so that they can be homosexuals. We say no to that,” Oyet said with a rolling voice as a live band played smooth jazz in the background.

Engle took the stage right after Oyet, and almost immediately launched into a defense of the anti-gay bill. According to Wilkerson, Elgle repeated what he said in his statement last week when he claimed that he didn’t know about the bill. He also claimed that he almost canceled his trip over the controversy. But at no point did he contest Oyet’s support for the bill. In fact, he picked up on the homosexuality-as-Western-import theme and ran with it:

We know that Uganda has been under tremendous pressure—the church. We felt that same pressure. But I felt like The Call was to come and join with the church of Uganda to encourage you that in the nation who are showing courage to take a stand for righteousness in the earth,” Engle said.

Since arriving, Engle went on, he had consulted with Uganda’s pastors, who are “dealing with a controversy they never wanted.” He then pivoted to the blame-the-West assertion so popular among the bill’s Ugandan supporters. “What I found out was that NGOs, the UN, and UNICEF were coming in and promoting an agenda that the church of Uganda did not want to be in this nation.”

Engle was careful never to explicitly call for the passage of the bill itself, and to avoid being accused of inciting violence. “We are not standing with violence or hatred to people with homosexual lifestyles,” he preached. Still, as he does in the United States, he insisted that homosexuality harms society: “We are trying to restrain an agenda that is going to hurt the nation and hurt families.”

Engle is trying to have it both ways. When he took the stage, at no time did he distance himself or criticize the draconian bill. Instead, he pivoted and repeated the oft-cited propaganda, with no apparent attempt to verify the “facts” themselves, that homosexuality is a Western imperialist import. But in private, while speaking to reporters on his way back to the car, Engle sought to distance himself from the bill again. Ugandan LGBT advocates noted the tightrope act:

“They tried to avoid the issue of inciting violence but they did not come out and condemn the bill, which was in their [press] statement,” said Dennis Wamala, who works with a group called Icebreakers Uganda. “They did not come out in any way to say this bill is wrong.”

Engle likes to portray himself as a courageous, fearless and bold trumpet of righteousness. When he issued his statement addressing concerns about his then-upcoming rally, we noted then that he tried to weave some sort of middle ground and we were left wondering what message he would deliver in Kampala. We now know the answer.

The problem all along is that the way the bill has been framed by its supporters, there is no room for middle ground. You are either in support of the bill or you are against it. Either you want to legislate LGBT people into oblivion or you don’t. Engle’s actions now leaves him squarely in the supporting camp. He had the opportunity to “[reflect] compassion for those struggling with same-sex attraction and equal justice for criminal offenses committed by heterosexuals or homosexuals,” but he blew it.

Instead, he demonstrated public solidarity with the people who want to kill LGBT Ugandans, and repeated their propaganda to do it. He stood beside those who want to kill LGBT people, including Oyet, Bahati, and Ethics and Integrity Minister James, Nsaba Buturo, among others. Nobody heard an ounce of caution or criticism from him. Instead, Engle affirmed the “righteousness” of the people who want to kill you. He’s an articulate man. Words never fail him. Which means that when he left only one conceivable take-away message for everyone in that crowd, that they are on the right track in trying to legally kill gay people, he did this with deliberate intent. And really, that is all you need to know about him.