Weekly Column
George A. Rekers is not a household name, but if you own an anti-gay book the chances are his name is in your household, buried deep in the book’ endnotes. While Rekers keeps a low public profile, his fingerprints are on almost every anti-gay effort to demean and dehumanize LGBT people.
He is the author of numerous books including, “Shaping Your Child’ Sexual Identity” and “Growing Up Straight: What Every Family Should Know About Homosexuality.” A major anti-gay figure that used to work at University of South Carolina, Rekers is a founder of the Family Research Council, a board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, (NARTH) and testified as an expert witness in favor of gay adoption bans in both Arkansas and Florida.
Recker’ fa?ßade came crashing down this week after Miami New Times reporters Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp discovered that he had vacationed with a hooker in Europe. When the anti-gay doctor and his “pay pal” arrived at Miami International Airport, reporters photographed them with a little pink camera.
When confronted with the evidence, Rekers said he learned that his companion was a prostitute only midway through their vacation. However, he had met the escort on RentBoy.com, so saying he was unaware of the man’ profession is a little like walking into a Dunkin Donuts and claiming that you had no idea they sold donuts — until after you ate a half dozen.
In trying to slither out of the mess, Reker’ only dug a deeper hole.
“I had surgery,” Rekers told the New Times, “and I can’t lift luggage. That’s why I hired him.”
Yeah, right. And Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) had a “wide stance” and Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) was walking the Appalachian Trail instead of shacking up with his mistress in South America. The New Times points out that Rekers medical problems didn’t stop him from pushing the large baggage cart through Miami International Airport.
Reker’ defense became surreal after he compared himself to Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, claiming he hired an escort because he likes to help sinners.
“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,” said Rekers. “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.”
Of course, we’ve all seen this story before, where a virulent homophobe who has dedicated his life to gay bashing is a closet case. In 1986, Dr. Henry Adams conducted a study at University of Georgia that found the men who were most outspokenly homophobic were the ones most turned on by gay porn.
It is time that the mental health establishment and major universities invest ample resources to better understand the devastating affects of internalized homophobia and its societal consequences. I’m no expert, but I have observed enough anti-gay activists in person to believe that a sizable portion is gay. I also believe that suppressing their sexual orientation has possibly led, in some cases, to mental illness.
How else do you explain men like Rekers who are obsessed with homosexuality and have written thousands of pages denouncing homosexuality — and then turn around and hire young male prostitutes? It seems they can’t stamp out their own desires, so they lash out at the entire LGBT community. The only reason such behavior likely isn’t labeled a mental illness in need of treatment is because the mental health community probably fears a ferocious right wing backlash.
If the homophobic swamp were drained of self-hating gay people, it would take much of the steam out of the anti-gay movement. I’m not saying anti-gay attitudes would disappear. However, few people would have the motivation and resolve to write voluminous anti-gay screeds or launch comprehensive political campaigns of persecution.
It is difficult to accept, but the majority of anti-gay bigotry may be a product of those who do not accept themselves.
I totally agree. These closet cases in many ways are more destructive than the ones that gay bash on the street. Even though there are no physical wounds like the ones produced from the gay basher, they use their influence and money to take away people’s rights. My partner and I have been together for nearly twenty years and we cannot enjoy the benefits of marriage because of them.
Much as I love the idea that all homophobes are closet cases, and as delicious as the fall of George Rekers is, the Adams experiments made a rather critical mistake.
Anti-gay rage can give people erections too. Every man who reads this should know that. The rush of anger has the tendency to do that.
I believe the scientific term, Christopher, is “anger boner.”
“helping and lovingly caring for people identifying themselves as gay”
Especially the really hot ones.
Except the male prostitute in this ases DOESN’T identify as gay-he says he’s BISEXUAL.
I realize that’s a small point, but it’s not and invisible one.
Suppose we take him at his word-that the two of them didn’t have sex, and he only had the purest of motives-to try and “cure” him of…well, if he’s bi, I guess Rekers wanted to cure him of prostitution? I’d still question his competence as a minister/therapist. After all, you don’t seek clients from an online website featuring sexually explicit images. And there’s also the question of why, out of the ads he looked at, he picked THIS guy. And the fact that they went on vacation together.
Even without the sex, nothing he did was even remotely appropriate.
Um…”Except in this CASE”. How’d I drop the “c” and add an “s”?
I was curious to see if we had any books by Reker in the library where I work, and sure enough, we have ‘Susan Smith, Victim or Murderer’. The book jacket touts Reker as an ‘expert’ on the consequences for adults who have been sexually abused as children. What a f–n hypocrite! His rent boy may be legally an adult, but he’s obviously young enough for an ‘expert’ to know of the deleterious psychological (and physical) effects that prostitution has on anyone, but especially someone that young. The fact that this ‘boy’ is selling himself to some stanky, decrepit old a*s like Reker makes it even worse.
[...] Rekers background is here. [...]