The Trials of Ted Haggard (2009)
Directed by Alexandra Pelosi
HBO Documentary Films
45 minutes

In San Jose, California, the Rev. Sky Anderson lives as a heterosexual married man. He has raised five children. Long ago, Rev. Sky was a lesbian. Soon after his transition around three decades ago, Anderson became one of the first, if not the very first, transgender men ordained as a pastor. Rev. Sky, now nearly 70 years old, preaches as he has for years, at MCC San Jose. The love between him and his community runs deep and is mutual.

After seeing Alexandra Pelosi’s stunning new documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard, one can only hope that the disgraced preacher will look to Rev. Sky as a role model, and be who he truly is.

There’s a word for people like Ted Haggard: bisexual. He genuinely loves his wife, and he’s sexually attracted to her. But he’s also attracted to men. The B in LGBT applies to people like Haggard.

When it was revealed that Pastor Haggard, a personal friend and advisor to former Pres. Bush, had engaged in sex acts with a male escort, he was banished from the mega-church he had founded, and was barred by the church from preaching and from living in the State of Colorado. (Did anyone ever question the legality of the latter?)

Filmmaker Pelosi (daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) presents a deeply disturbing portrait of a sad,  conflicted, browbeaten man whose life stands as a  testament to the cruelty of the ex-gay movement.
Pelosi follows Haggard and his family after their “banishment”, as he struggles to find a job so he can feed his family.

As he sits before Pelosi’s camera, Haggard says that the “revelation” of his  having been cured of his “homosexual tendencies” in “Jesus camp” were not made by him, but by Elders at the New Life Church in Colorado. The press fallout from that story made Haggard a national laughing stock, and rendered him virtually unemployable. When the money runs out, he asks for financial help from “Christians” so he can care for his family.

“Christians” respond with “You’re disgusting. Get a job, loser.” Pelosi actually shows these emails, followed by brief on camera interviews with cold, uncaring judgmental followers of Christ.

Throughout it all, the Haggard family stays together. Haggard and his wife Gayle read the Bible together. Sometimes they try to forgive the church who abandoned them — but sometimes the hurt and bitterness comes through.

Haggard now speaks openly of his attraction to men, but falls short of admitting that he’s gay or bisexual.
Sadly, he remains afraid to speak his full truth.

Mike Jones, the gay escort who uncovered Haggard’s secrets, is seen on a book tour. He speaks eloquently on how LGBTs have been victimized by the hate of right-wing preachers. He mentions Haggard, along with several others, in this context.

I beg to differ. Far too many of us have indeed been hurt and victimized by fundamentalist Christianity and in particular by the cruelties of the ex-gay movement. After seeing Pelosi’s film, I would name Ted Haggard as one of those victims.

The Trials of Ted Haggard is brilliantly executed. It’s profoundly tragic to see the broken man Haggard has become. The former preacher stands as a testament to what the ex-gay movement, and fundamentalist churches in general, does to those who fail to toe the party line.

I would therefore call upon Haggard to look to Rev. Sky Anderson as an example of what his life could be.

Live your life as who you are Ted, an openly bisexual man who loves his wife but enjoys the “company” of men. Join MCC, where you can preach the Gospel in a manner that Christ would approve of: with love and tolerance toward all.
In doing so, you can live with dignity and help bring down the ex-gay movement.

The Trials of Ted Haggard will air on the following dates in February:
HBO:
Feb. 1st, 4th, 10th & 20th
HBO 2:
Feb. 3rd, 8th, 12th and 23rd
Due to differing satellite feeds for various time zones, check local listings for actual times.

David Alex Nahmod lives in San Francisco, where he does film/DVD reviews & celebrity interviews for a variety of publications. Visit him at: DavidsOpenForum.Blogspot.com

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