Yesterday, a report from New Times contributors Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp went up bringing to light the fact that Dr. George Rekers, a leading "scientific" voice in the anti-gay movement, had hired a male prostitute who advertises on an explicit gay website as a travel companion. The internet then preceded to explode.
Both men involved, Rekers and the rent boy known as "Lucien," denied that sex took place during their one-week trip to Europe. Rekers claimed he didn't know Lucien was a prostitute until halfway through the trip, even though he hired him through RentBoy.com. That seems to contradict a statement he gave to the blog Joe. My. God. through Facebook. Rekers now claims that, like Jesus, he was reaching out to the prostitute and tried to get his life back on track.
"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," wrote Rekers.
"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."
Joe. My. God. has also discovered that mentions of Rekers have been erased from the website of the Family Research Council, a fundamentalist Christian group he co-founded.
Rekers is best known for touting pseudo-science in defense of anti-gay laws. Riptide has mentioned him before when the State of Florida brought him in to testify in defense of the state's gay adoption ban. However, much of his evidence has been debunked by mainstream science. It's worth noting that Rekers doesn't just dislike the idea of gays adopting children, but also thinks Native Americans and people who have had more than 18 sexual partners would make unfit parents.
