Thought Jar

headphonesnotrequired:

That man was George Alan Rekers, of North Miami — the callboy’s client and, as it happens, one of America’s most prominent anti-gay activists. Rekers, a Baptist minister who is a leading scholar for the Christian right, left the terminal with his gay escort, looking a bit discomfited when a picture of the two was snapped with a hot-pink digital camera.

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.)

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.

It doesn’t take a social scientist to see the trend that has developed with regard to homophobic far-right conservatives being outed constantly. Denial ain’t just a river, as they say.

I think these men are in a horrendous cycle of self-hatred. They were raised to believe homosexuality is abnormal and disgusting, and perhaps their actions as leaders to punish other homosexuals is some sort of penance for their own feelings. My first reaction to these cases is disgust at the hypocrisy, but I think I also feel a bit bad for them so obviously hating themselves so much. Instead of coming out, facing the initial reaction from their families, then maybe settling down with a long-term partner, they’re forced to engage in secret trysts with prostitutes.

I don’t mean to say this excuses their homophobic impact on public policy, but I think it’s a sad cycle the religious right contributes to generation after generation.