The only time outting is ethical is when  it’s  hypocrites getting their sheets yanked; cf “Rekers, George;”  “Haggard, Ted;” or  “Craig, Larry.” Jim Bakker, John Ensign and Marc Sanford also come to mind as hypocrites, shoving “family values” down America’s throat while shoving it in on the side. Morality is fine, but live by your law, and don’t impose yours on the rest. Especially when you’re a lying sack.

So just who is Pastor Tom Brock? Well, he’s a conservative , anti-gay, anti-abortion minister at Hope Lutheran Church in Minneapolis who believes that God recently sent a tornado onto the Evangelical Lutheran Conference of America because that church supports homosexuality and abortion.  And had tents up to sell beer during their conference. (I wonder what the buff and bald Brock thought of lightning recently striking  a six-story tall statue of “Touchdown Jesus” in Ohio, and of the 2008 lightning strike on Rio de Janiero’s 130 foot tall Christ the Redeemer?)

Brock also is a gay man struggling with what he feels are unnatural urges and “gender disorder.” To than end he attends a regular support group for those trying to maintain their chastity as gay men. On May 28 at one group meeting, Brock said he had just returned for a trip to Slovakia on church business meeting with other pastors, and admitted

I fell into temptation. I was weak.

Slovakia just celebrated their first Pride event May 22. The parade was disrupted by protesters, including Neo-Nazis who threw tear gas and fireworks and beat marchers.

John Townsend, an undercover reporter for Lavender Magazine, attended these meetings, and witnessed Brock’s confession. Townsend was referred to the program via a priest. I have a feeling–but no proof–that Townsend was tipped off by someone who knew who Brock was and was disgusted.  If so, Townsend did what any investigative reporter would and should do: He devised a way to discover whether or not his tipster was correct.

The support group is sponsored by Faith In Action, the Minnesota chapter of Courage

the global Catholic gay-chastity-maintenance organization.

It is open to all Christian faiths and is pretty much an ex-gay group, and/or a group for men who’d like to be ex-gay. In Townsend’s article there no mention of the group stressing chastity within a heterosexual  context or within committed relationships as a whole, so this is not a sex-addiction support group, but rather a group designed to pray away the gay, a group that teaches that homosexuality is wrong and a “gender disorder.”

The group is supposed to be confidential. Reporter Townsend kept the confidentiality of the rest of the group, with the exception of the priests who led the group meetings and are public about their involvement. Tom Brock is a man who has raised the bar on homophobia in Minneapolis and is spreading a homo-hating message while having sex with men. Exposing Tom Brock vs busting the confidentiality of one harmful hypocrite? Mmm, greater good wins out.

And Queerty reports that Hope Lutheran Church has put Brock on a two week administrative leave after his Slovakian sexcapade was made public. He will likely return to his job.

Tom Brock is conflicted about his sexuality. As such he should have worked on himself and not exteriorized his internal issues from the pulpit to harm others who are living their own lives.

[HT: Lavender Magazine, Queerty]

vintage postcard: riptheskull/creative commons

Gosh Florida just keeps getting zanier. Sure, along with being God’s Waiting Room, a theme-park megalopolis and the world headquarters of a goofy space alien religion, the state is also the home of holy homophobic hypocrite George “Rentboys” Rekers–and last week the state legislature declined to ban bestiality.

But today the wacky state of Eff-El-Lay just got way nuttier when the State Senate voted to ban “Truck Nutz,” decorative testicles that dangle from trailer hitches on cars and trucks from Tallahasse to the Keys. And the ban may cause a seminal rift in the state’s Republican Party which was already somewhat castrated by Charlie Crist’s anticlimactic departure.

Calling the dangling adornments offensive, Republican Sen. Cary Baker, a gun shop owner from Eustis, Florida led the no-balls brigade, while fellow GOP member Senate Rules Chairman Jim King would like to see the proposal sacked. King bagged on the measure and other Republicans also said bollocks to nanny state interference in vehicle decoration. While the measure got hung onto a broader transportation bill in the Senate, testicles are not attached to the House version.

Kudos to “Lucien” as he calls himself, the “travel assistant” who hoisted bags for anti-gay activist George Rekers during a ten-day all expense paid vacation to Europe. “Lucien” has given an in depth interview to New Times Miami which broke the sack-lifting story earlier this week, clearing the air and admitting that intimate contact occurred between the blond student/escort and his outwardly, professionally homophobic psychologist patron.

Seems Rekers liked “the long stroke,” a special nude massage “down there”  which Lucien administered once a day. Rekers also asked Lucien to prepare a document hopes of preventing any future disclosures. Lucien told New Times:

It’s a situation where he’s going against homosexuality when he is a homosexual.

Lucien decided to speak with New Times after a friend explained to him the harm that Rekers’ anti-gay proselytizing has caused for countless LGBT. Lucien said:

In all honesty, he should disassociate himself from these [anti-gay] groups

The Family Research Council, the rightwing Christian group Rekers co-founded with James Dobson has removed Rekers from  their website, despite the turgid Facebook page explanation for his frequent flier frolics:

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.

Dr. Rekers, you didn’t have “homosexual intercourse.” You had homosexual foreplay. Either way, it’s still gay sex. Admit it, admit you’re gay, embrace your fabulousity, repent from the sins of having harmed countless LGBT with your BS theories and practices, and come over to the rainbow side. It’s a lot more fun.

Colbert’s take on Rekers’ folly

Dr George Reker–who hired a handsome young man off Rentboys.com to handle his bags while the two of them toured Europe–blogs about teen sex as part his DrGeorge.com website. And parts of it are really appalling

Take this story for example: Teen Girl Agrees to Have Sex for $50, Then Gets the Surprise of Her Life

Surprise of her life indeed–the girl was murdered! That sort of blithe insensitivity is found throughout Dr George’s Teen Sex Today blog where Rekers makes sure you know he is an experienced psychologist, psychiatrist, and professor, as well as a foster and adoptive father:

Not only have I successfully raised a bunch of teenagers into adulthood as a father, but as a clinical psychologist, I’ve spent many years counseling teenagers about their questions about sex. And as a university professor for many years, I’ve been teaching medical students, psychology students, and psychiatry trainees on how they can help teens with sexual issues.

Along with issues of abstinence and porn, Rekers also addresses “gender identity.” As founder the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, Rekers thinks gays should and can be cured.

Rekers also addresses the Rentboys.com scandal, claiming:

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.

So if friends and family members offered to accompnay him, why did Rekers hire this travel assistant, who confirmed ot New Times Miami that they met via Rentboys.com?

Rentboy.com, a NSFW site

(NB: Rentboy.com–a site favored by at least one Evangelical minister–is most definitely, incredibly NSFW!!!)

“Homo-hater exposed as hypocrite” has almost become a routine story–kinda like family-values politicians who get busted with some not-their-wife-type–but ooooh, it’s still such delish fun when an anti-gay Evangelist is caught red-handed with a rentboy from Rentboy.com!

And that’s what happened to the Rev. George Alan Rekers, Maimi-based Baptist minister, co-founder with James Dobson of  the virulently anti-gay, rightwing Family Research Council; a state’s witness in favor of Florida’s gay adoption ban; board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) a reparative therapy organization looking to turn gays straight; and author of such anti-gay screeds as Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.

Seems Rekers met a blond twenty-something described on Rentboy.com as

sensual…wild..up for anything

with some rather nice sounding body parts. For rent.

And Rekers took this sexy chap to Europe to hold his bags. Yup, according to an interview with New Times– conducted after the couple was spotted and photographed at Miami International Airport returning from their foreign romp–Rekers hired the dishy young man because

I had surgery and I can’t lift luggage. That’s why I hired him.

Neither Rekers nor the foxy fellow deny meeting through Rentboy.com, which is clearly a site dedicated uniting men who are willing to pay for sex with  very fit, very naked men who would like to make some extra cash by having sex.

One would think if Rekers wanted his luggage carried–versus his sacks handled–he could have found the help he needed through an employment agency or a church group…

[HT New Times]