Anti-gay rights activist resigns after trip with male escort

(CNN) -- The anti-gay rights activist who recently toured Europe with a male escort has resigned from a group that promotes counseling for people who "struggle with unwanted homosexuality," though the man insists that he is not gay.
George Rekers resigned from the board of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, the group's website said Tuesday.

Anti-gay rights activist resigns after trip with male escort - CNN.com

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Rekers is an important member of NARTH and has penned many articles for their website. He was very active in opposing gay rights legislation and was paid to be a witness in challenging Florida law banning gays from adopting. In reaction to the allegations, NARTH has "scrubbed" all of Rekers' writings from it's site. The escort claims that Rekers found him on a website called "rentboy.com" and that Rekers asked for and received sexual massages, daily. He stated that Rekers denied being gay and did not ask for sex.

Rekers' story differs, claiming that he choose the assistant after interviewing several, needing an assistant for carrying luggage, and that he did not discover anything about the assistants internet advertisement until later.

So. who's story is true? Well, considering both parties insist that there was no sex involved, it is hard to tell. Rekers would have cause to lie to protect being seen as a hypocrite; the assistant would have cause to lie both for publicity and to damage the reputation of someone who was decidedly anti-gay. Still, I tend not to believe in coincidences, and a random assistant who happened to be a male escort seems flimsy. Also, why would you need an assistant just to carry your luggage?

This does fall in line, however, with other folks in anti-gay organizations, who turned out to be gay themselves. The two founders of Exodus International (Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper), an organization claiming to be able to "cure" people of homosexuality, left and married each other in 1979. In 2000, the then Exodus International chairman, John Paulk, left, admitting that he was still gay.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. If Rekers IS gay, I hope he admits it. If he is not, I hope these allegations are retracted.

CaptainCourtesy said:

The two founders of Exodus International (Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper), an organization claiming to be able to "cure" people of homosexuality, left and married each other in 1979.

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That is too funny!

I adopt the line that what people do in their free time should not be subject to the kind of scrutiny that we do. I also think that whether he is gay or not has zero bearing on whether or not gay rights laws or laws limiting gay rights are good or bad. I think we need to move to the point where his private life is none of our business.

However, some aspects of this story have been hilarious, from the name of the website the escort advertised on, to the irony of the whole thing.

Redress said:

That is too funny!

I adopt the line that what people do in their free time should not be subject to the kind of scrutiny that we do. I also think that whether he is gay or not has zero bearing on whether or not gay rights laws or laws limiting gay rights are good or bad. I think we need to move to the point where his private life is none of our business.

However, some aspects of this story have been hilarious, from the name of the website the escort advertised on, to the irony of the whole thing.

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I agree. I think what he does in his personal life has nothing to do with his positions on things. I just see the entire thing as ironic.

Not my personal position on the matter, but this bit of humor seems appropriate for this topic.

CaptainCourtesy said:

I agree. I think what he does in his personal life has nothing to do with his positions on things. I just see the entire thing as ironic.

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Oh, it is ironic, and some aspects of the story are hilarious. "rentboy.com"...:rofl

By the way, any one without an adblocker, what are the adds like in this thread? Are they as hilarious as any gay topic thread used to be?

Redress said:

That is too funny!

I adopt the line that what people do in their free time should not be subject to the kind of scrutiny that we do. I also think that whether he is gay or not has zero bearing on whether or not gay rights laws or laws limiting gay rights are good or bad. I think we need to move to the point where his private life is none of our business.

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I couldn't disagree more. I think when people take public and political positions on things that inherently involve themselves in OTHER people's very private lives, they automatically invite scrutiny. Whenever someone becomes a, how shall I say... "sexual morality activist", that person is simultaneously making the implied announcement "Please, come look as carefully as you can at my personal life".

Their personal lives are an issue because they are involving themselves in adversely affecting other people's personal lives.

As Nelson would say

HA HA!

CC, that's really cute how you said, "If he is gay...":rofl

megaprogman said:

Not my personal position on the matter, but this bit of humor seems appropriate for this topic.

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LOL, very funny! :lol: