"What was going through your mind when you went on that website?" demanded Lucien,
referring to rentboy.com, the gay escort site where he had posted his profile.
Rekers paused for several seconds, considering. "Well, I'd be happy to sit down and talk
to you more about that." He paused again. "We have to deal with the situation that we
have, and make sure it doesn't get worse."
"Sometimes I feel like I should just tell [the press] what happened on the trip."
"No," said Rekers quickly, "Please don't do that. Please don't let them pressure you into
it."
"But I'm getting pressured out of the gay community!" Lucien was fairly screaming now. "If
I ever wanted to be with someone -- it wouldn't work out! This is my fucking name!"
After some cross-talk, Rekers tried to calm Lucien down: "I've been through things like
this in the past --"
Lucien cut him off: "Well I haven't! I'm 20 years old! If you've been through this, you
shouldn't have gone to that website, you shouldn't have hired me -- why did you make so
many choices [for me]?"
The conversation was too sad, by then, and we couldn't bear to follow it. The whole thing
felt pornographic. One of us took a bathroom break; the other of us left the couch and
stood by a window.
Copyright © Miami New Times & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
referring to rentboy.com, the gay escort site where he had posted his profile.
Rekers paused for several seconds, considering. "Well, I'd be happy to sit down and talk
to you more about that." He paused again. "We have to deal with the situation that we
have, and make sure it doesn't get worse."
"Sometimes I feel like I should just tell [the press] what happened on the trip."
"No," said Rekers quickly, "Please don't do that. Please don't let them pressure you into
it."
"But I'm getting pressured out of the gay community!" Lucien was fairly screaming now. "If
I ever wanted to be with someone -- it wouldn't work out! This is my fucking name!"
After some cross-talk, Rekers tried to calm Lucien down: "I've been through things like
this in the past --"
Lucien cut him off: "Well I haven't! I'm 20 years old! If you've been through this, you
shouldn't have gone to that website, you shouldn't have hired me -- why did you make so
many choices [for me]?"
The conversation was too sad, by then, and we couldn't bear to follow it. The whole thing
felt pornographic. One of us took a bathroom break; the other of us left the couch and
stood by a window.
Copyright © Miami New Times & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
Homosexuality (NARTH), an organization that systematically attempts to turn gay people
straight. And the Huffington Post recently singled out Rekers as a member of the
American College of Pediatricians — an official-sounding outfit in Gainesville that
purveys lurid, youth-directed literature accusing gays of en masse coprophilia. (In an
email, the college's Lisa Hawkins wrote, "ACPeds feels privileged to have a scholar of
Dr. Rekers' stature affiliated with our organization. I am sure you will find Prof. Rekers to
be an immaculate clinician/scholar, and a warm human being.")
Rekers lectures worldwide, from Europe to the Middle East, on teen sexuality. Yet during
his ten-day sojourn with Lucien to London and Madrid, he had no lectures scheduled.
Both men deny having sex on the trip, and emails exchanged between the two before
their jaunt are cautiously worded.
"I'd like to propose another trip to Rome, Italy, for a week or more," Rekers wrote in an
email dated March 21 obtained by New Times. "This is so exciting to have a nice Travel
Assistant and traveling companion! Wow! I'm so glad I met you."
"I called and talked to the reservation guy in London and reserved a room with two twin
beds," Rekers wrote on March 26.
"Now that I'm packed, tomorrow I'll work on completing my income tax return," Rekers
wrote two days later. "Not fun... But I'll just remind myself that the fun trip is coming soon."
In his interview with New Times, Lucien didn't want to impugn his client, but he made it
clear they met through Rentboy.com, which is the only website on which he advertises
his services. Neither Google nor any other search engine picks up individual Rentboy.
com profiles, any more than they pick up individual profiles on eHarmony or Match.com.
You cannot just happen upon one.
To arrive at Lucien's site, Rekers must have accepted Rentboy.com's terms of use,
thereby acknowledging he was not offended by graphic sexual material. He then
straight. And the Huffington Post recently singled out Rekers as a member of the
American College of Pediatricians — an official-sounding outfit in Gainesville that
purveys lurid, youth-directed literature accusing gays of en masse coprophilia. (In an
email, the college's Lisa Hawkins wrote, "ACPeds feels privileged to have a scholar of
Dr. Rekers' stature affiliated with our organization. I am sure you will find Prof. Rekers to
be an immaculate clinician/scholar, and a warm human being.")
Rekers lectures worldwide, from Europe to the Middle East, on teen sexuality. Yet during
his ten-day sojourn with Lucien to London and Madrid, he had no lectures scheduled.
Both men deny having sex on the trip, and emails exchanged between the two before
their jaunt are cautiously worded.
"I'd like to propose another trip to Rome, Italy, for a week or more," Rekers wrote in an
email dated March 21 obtained by New Times. "This is so exciting to have a nice Travel
Assistant and traveling companion! Wow! I'm so glad I met you."
"I called and talked to the reservation guy in London and reserved a room with two twin
beds," Rekers wrote on March 26.
"Now that I'm packed, tomorrow I'll work on completing my income tax return," Rekers
wrote two days later. "Not fun... But I'll just remind myself that the fun trip is coming soon."
In his interview with New Times, Lucien didn't want to impugn his client, but he made it
clear they met through Rentboy.com, which is the only website on which he advertises
his services. Neither Google nor any other search engine picks up individual Rentboy.
com profiles, any more than they pick up individual profiles on eHarmony or Match.com.
You cannot just happen upon one.
To arrive at Lucien's site, Rekers must have accepted Rentboy.com's terms of use,
thereby acknowledging he was not offended by graphic sexual material. He then
www.ambiente.us MAY | MAYO 2010
Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with
"rent boy"
By Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp
The pictures on the Rentboy.com profile show a shirtless young man with delicate
features, guileless eyes, and sun-kissed, hairless skin. The profile touts his "smooth,
sweet, tight ass" and "perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)" and explains he is "sensual,"
"wild," and "up for anything" — as long you ask first. And as long as you pay.
On April 13, the "rent boy" (whom we'll call Lucien) arrived at Miami International Airport
on Iberian Airlines Flight 6123, after a ten-day, fully subsidized trip to Europe. He was
soon followed out of customs by an old man with an atavistic mustache and a
desperate blond comb-over, pushing an overburdened baggage cart.
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." (Medical problems didn't stop him from
Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with
"rent boy"
By Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp
The pictures on the Rentboy.com profile show a shirtless young man with delicate
features, guileless eyes, and sun-kissed, hairless skin. The profile touts his "smooth,
sweet, tight ass" and "perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)" and explains he is "sensual,"
"wild," and "up for anything" — as long you ask first. And as long as you pay.
On April 13, the "rent boy" (whom we'll call Lucien) arrived at Miami International Airport
on Iberian Airlines Flight 6123, after a ten-day, fully subsidized trip to Europe. He was
soon followed out of customs by an old man with an atavistic mustache and a
desperate blond comb-over, pushing an overburdened baggage cart.
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." (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
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.
At the small western Miami townhome he shares with a roommate, a nervous Lucien
expressed surprise when we told him that Rekers denied knowing about his line of work
from the beginning. "He should've been able to tell you that," he said, fidgeting and fixing
his eyes on his knees. "But that's up to him."
For decades, George Alan Rekers has been a general in the culture wars, though his
work has often been behind the scenes. In 1983, he and James Dobson, America's best-
known homophobe, formed the Family Research Council, a D.C.-based, rabidly
Christian, and vehemently anti-gay lobbying group that has become a standard-bearer of
the nation's extreme right wing. Its annual Values Summit is considered a litmus test for
Republican presidential hopefuls, and Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter have spoken there.
(The Family Research Council would not comment about Rekers's Euro-trip.)
He has also influenced American government, serving in advisory roles with Congress,
the White House, and the Department of Health and Human Services and testifying as a
state's witness in favor of Florida's gay adoption ban. A former research fellow at Harvard
University and a distinguished professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of South
Carolina, Rekers has published papers and books by the hundreds, with titles like Who
Am I? Lord and Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.
"While he keeps a low public profile, his fingerprints are on almost every anti-gay effort to
demean and dehumanize LGBT people," says Wayne Besen, a gay rights advocate in
New York City and the executive director of Truth Wins Out, which investigates the anti-
gay movement. "His work is ubiquitously cited by lobby groups that work to deny equality
to LGBT Americans. Rekers has caused a great deal of harm to gay and lesbian
individuals."
Rekers is a board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of
twinks — and Lucien confirmed it.
At the small western Miami townhome he shares with a roommate, a nervous Lucien
expressed surprise when we told him that Rekers denied knowing about his line of work
from the beginning. "He should've been able to tell you that," he said, fidgeting and fixing
his eyes on his knees. "But that's up to him."
For decades, George Alan Rekers has been a general in the culture wars, though his
work has often been behind the scenes. In 1983, he and James Dobson, America's best-
known homophobe, formed the Family Research Council, a D.C.-based, rabidly
Christian, and vehemently anti-gay lobbying group that has become a standard-bearer of
the nation's extreme right wing. Its annual Values Summit is considered a litmus test for
Republican presidential hopefuls, and Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter have spoken there.
(The Family Research Council would not comment about Rekers's Euro-trip.)
He has also influenced American government, serving in advisory roles with Congress,
the White House, and the Department of Health and Human Services and testifying as a
state's witness in favor of Florida's gay adoption ban. A former research fellow at Harvard
University and a distinguished professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of South
Carolina, Rekers has published papers and books by the hundreds, with titles like Who
Am I? Lord and Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.
"While he keeps a low public profile, his fingerprints are on almost every anti-gay effort to
demean and dehumanize LGBT people," says Wayne Besen, a gay rights advocate in
New York City and the executive director of Truth Wins Out, which investigates the anti-
gay movement. "His work is ubiquitously cited by lobby groups that work to deny equality
to LGBT Americans. Rekers has caused a great deal of harm to gay and lesbian
individuals."
Rekers is a board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of
| . |
| . |
would have been transported to a front page covered with images of naked, tumescent
men busily sodomizing each other.
Then Rekers must have performed a search. Did he want a "rentboy," a "sugar daddy," or
a "masseur"? In what country? And what city? If Rekers searched for a rent boy in Miami,
he would have found approximately 80 likely candidates. He must have scrolled down the
first page, past the shirtless bears and desperate ex-models, and on to page 2. There, at
last, was Lucien.
As a favor to Rekers, Lucien recently removed any wanton sexual descriptors from his
Rentboy profile. Though he does admit Rekers "likes younger guys to hang out with,"
Lucien is protective of his erstwhile client. He describes Rekers primarily as a family
man — one whose passion for oppressing homosexuals is dwarfed by his desire to
help children. "You don't understand how much this guy honestly cares about taking care
of kids," he says.
Indeed, much of Rekers's activism over the past three decades — beginning with his
1983 book, Shaping Your Child's Sexual Identity — has been devoted to improving
children's lives by educating them, protecting them from their own budding sexualities,
and keeping them safe from gay adoptions — as he did by testifying as an expert witness
in favor of gay adoption bans in both Arkansas and Florida.
Well, it's a good thing Rekers isn't gay himself. Lucien tells us that Rekers frequently
takes in foster children and that four years ago he adopted a 16-year-old boy. We found
the boy, who is now Lucien's age, on Facebook. He declined to be interviewed.
Copyright © Miami New Times & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
men busily sodomizing each other.
Then Rekers must have performed a search. Did he want a "rentboy," a "sugar daddy," or
a "masseur"? In what country? And what city? If Rekers searched for a rent boy in Miami,
he would have found approximately 80 likely candidates. He must have scrolled down the
first page, past the shirtless bears and desperate ex-models, and on to page 2. There, at
last, was Lucien.
As a favor to Rekers, Lucien recently removed any wanton sexual descriptors from his
Rentboy profile. Though he does admit Rekers "likes younger guys to hang out with,"
Lucien is protective of his erstwhile client. He describes Rekers primarily as a family
man — one whose passion for oppressing homosexuals is dwarfed by his desire to
help children. "You don't understand how much this guy honestly cares about taking care
of kids," he says.
Indeed, much of Rekers's activism over the past three decades — beginning with his
1983 book, Shaping Your Child's Sexual Identity — has been devoted to improving
children's lives by educating them, protecting them from their own budding sexualities,
and keeping them safe from gay adoptions — as he did by testifying as an expert witness
in favor of gay adoption bans in both Arkansas and Florida.
Well, it's a good thing Rekers isn't gay himself. Lucien tells us that Rekers frequently
takes in foster children and that four years ago he adopted a 16-year-old boy. We found
the boy, who is now Lucien's age, on Facebook. He declined to be interviewed.
Copyright © Miami New Times & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
| . |
Things Rekers Said To Lucien When He Didn't Think We Were
Listening
By Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp
Anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers contends in an earlier post on Riptide that he did not
hire a young gay escort named Lucien as a prostitute. But what the minister -- who hasn't
returned calls seeking comment -- likely didn't realize is that Miami New Times reporters
were sitting beside Lucien during a candid conversation over speakerphone.
During that talk -- which took place at about 1 a.m. Thursday in a Fort Lauderdale home --
Rekers told Lucien several times not to talk to the press. He also never challenged two
statements by Lucien: 1) that the minister had found the 20-year-old escort on an internet
site, and 2) that they "did the whole massage thing," referring to Lucien's contention that
he gave Rekers nude massages during their two-week trip to Europe.
(A statement on Rekers' website, professorgeorge.com, states that he "did not find out
about his travel assistant's internet advertisements offering prostitution activity until after
the trip was in progress" and that he was not "involved in sexual behavior with his travel
assistant".)
Lucien began the conversation in a state of mild panic, understandably worried by the
explosion of publicity that followed New Times' original expose. (Lucien, who asked that
his real name not be used, has never told his family he is gay, and prior to the story's
publication had declined to mention his line of work to many friends.)
Lucien was offended, too, by what he had learned from friends and press reports of
Rekers' three decades of anti-gay activism, a record the Baptist minister tried to
downplay.
Listening
By Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp
Anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers contends in an earlier post on Riptide that he did not
hire a young gay escort named Lucien as a prostitute. But what the minister -- who hasn't
returned calls seeking comment -- likely didn't realize is that Miami New Times reporters
were sitting beside Lucien during a candid conversation over speakerphone.
During that talk -- which took place at about 1 a.m. Thursday in a Fort Lauderdale home --
Rekers told Lucien several times not to talk to the press. He also never challenged two
statements by Lucien: 1) that the minister had found the 20-year-old escort on an internet
site, and 2) that they "did the whole massage thing," referring to Lucien's contention that
he gave Rekers nude massages during their two-week trip to Europe.
(A statement on Rekers' website, professorgeorge.com, states that he "did not find out
about his travel assistant's internet advertisements offering prostitution activity until after
the trip was in progress" and that he was not "involved in sexual behavior with his travel
assistant".)
Lucien began the conversation in a state of mild panic, understandably worried by the
explosion of publicity that followed New Times' original expose. (Lucien, who asked that
his real name not be used, has never told his family he is gay, and prior to the story's
publication had declined to mention his line of work to many friends.)
Lucien was offended, too, by what he had learned from friends and press reports of
Rekers' three decades of anti-gay activism, a record the Baptist minister tried to
downplay.
| . |
"I just stay in the background," said Rekers, a co-founder with James Dobson of the
Family Research Council, a vehemently anti-gay lobbying group. Of gay people, he said:
"I've never picked a fight with them."
Rekers then said he has a "friend in the media" who's advised him to avoid all contact
with the press. Rekers told Lucien to do the same.
"Tell them you don't want to do interviews," said Rekers. "Are they calling you on the
phone, or calling you at your house?"
"Both!" cried Lucien.
Throughout, Rekers was very solicitous, and Lucien was plainly upset. Lucien explained
he'd felt extremely uncomfortable in his dealings with the press.
"We did the whole massage thing," Lucien said, "and I don't know what to think about it."
"Yeah," said Rekers, "just say 'no,' and just say 'I've already [indecipherable] to the press,'
and that's it. 'Cuz if you keep answering, it'll keep the story alive."
"This isn't something I can just be silenced about!" Lucien said moments later.
Rekers assured that if the escort just remained silent, the whole story would soon die
down. He began muttering darkly about "activists with an axe to grind" and "nothing better
to do."
Lucien suggested that perhaps "the media" had a point and that Rekers really had done
harm to the gay community. He insisted that Rekers' struggle wasn't his, and said he had
considered making a statement to the press.
"Well, don't do that," said Rekers. "It just causes more harm."
Family Research Council, a vehemently anti-gay lobbying group. Of gay people, he said:
"I've never picked a fight with them."
Rekers then said he has a "friend in the media" who's advised him to avoid all contact
with the press. Rekers told Lucien to do the same.
"Tell them you don't want to do interviews," said Rekers. "Are they calling you on the
phone, or calling you at your house?"
"Both!" cried Lucien.
Throughout, Rekers was very solicitous, and Lucien was plainly upset. Lucien explained
he'd felt extremely uncomfortable in his dealings with the press.
"We did the whole massage thing," Lucien said, "and I don't know what to think about it."
"Yeah," said Rekers, "just say 'no,' and just say 'I've already [indecipherable] to the press,'
and that's it. 'Cuz if you keep answering, it'll keep the story alive."
"This isn't something I can just be silenced about!" Lucien said moments later.
Rekers assured that if the escort just remained silent, the whole story would soon die
down. He began muttering darkly about "activists with an axe to grind" and "nothing better
to do."
Lucien suggested that perhaps "the media" had a point and that Rekers really had done
harm to the gay community. He insisted that Rekers' struggle wasn't his, and said he had
considered making a statement to the press.
"Well, don't do that," said Rekers. "It just causes more harm."
| . |
| . |
Bill McCullom requested hiring of antigay psychologist now in
Rentboy scandal
by Steve Rothaus, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
George A. Rekers is an officer of the National Association for Research & Therapy of
Homosexuality (NARTH). Attorney General Bill McCollum personally requested that the
state's Department of Children & Families hire antigay psychologist George Rekers at
$300 an hour as an expert witness to defend Florida's ban on gay people adopting,
records show.
``Our attorneys handling this case have searched long and hard for other expert
witnesses with comparable expertise to Dr. Rekers and have been unable to identify any
who would be available for this case,'' McCollum wrote in 2007 to then-DCF Secretary
Bob Butterworth.
Rekers' national reputation shattered last week amid reports that he
vacationed for two weeks in Europe with a gay male escort from
Miami he met through Rentboy.com. The escort, Jo-Vanni Roman, 20,
says he gave Rekers, 61, nude ``sexual'' massages every day during
their trip in April to Madrid and London.
Roman says Rekers, an officer of the conservative National Association for Research &
Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and a retired University of South Carolina professor,
paid him $75 a day plus expenses to travel with him.
Rekers acknowledged traveling with Roman but denied having sex with him. The
professor said he met Roman through ``acquaintances'' and hired him to carry his
luggage during their trip.
Florida paid Rekers $60,900 in 2007 and $59,793 in 2009 for his testimony in the case of
Frank Gill, a gay foster parent seeking to adopt two young brothers.
Rentboy scandal
by Steve Rothaus, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com
George A. Rekers is an officer of the National Association for Research & Therapy of
Homosexuality (NARTH). Attorney General Bill McCollum personally requested that the
state's Department of Children & Families hire antigay psychologist George Rekers at
$300 an hour as an expert witness to defend Florida's ban on gay people adopting,
records show.
``Our attorneys handling this case have searched long and hard for other expert
witnesses with comparable expertise to Dr. Rekers and have been unable to identify any
who would be available for this case,'' McCollum wrote in 2007 to then-DCF Secretary
Bob Butterworth.
Rekers' national reputation shattered last week amid reports that he
vacationed for two weeks in Europe with a gay male escort from
Miami he met through Rentboy.com. The escort, Jo-Vanni Roman, 20,
says he gave Rekers, 61, nude ``sexual'' massages every day during
their trip in April to Madrid and London.
Roman says Rekers, an officer of the conservative National Association for Research &
Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and a retired University of South Carolina professor,
paid him $75 a day plus expenses to travel with him.
Rekers acknowledged traveling with Roman but denied having sex with him. The
professor said he met Roman through ``acquaintances'' and hired him to carry his
luggage during their trip.
Florida paid Rekers $60,900 in 2007 and $59,793 in 2009 for his testimony in the case of
Frank Gill, a gay foster parent seeking to adopt two young brothers.
| . |
Florida is the only state that bans all gay people from adopting.
In November 2008, Miami-Dade Judge Cindy Lederman awarded custody of the two boys
to Gill. In her final judgment, Lederman wrote:
``Dr. Rekers' testimony was far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant
scientific evidence. Dr. Rekers' beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and
theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony
and demeanor at trial, the court cannot consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy
of forming the basis of public policy.''
McCollum's office has appealed Lederman's ruling, and a decision is expected anytime.
``As hired counsel for the Florida Department of Children & Families, our office provided
our client with the best possible legal representation in this matter,'' said Sandi Copes,
communications director for the attorney general's office.
Copes declined to comment on the Gill case but said: ``This office will not engage or
recommend Dr. Rekers in the future.''
Rekers, a founder of the conservative Family Research Council who believes
homosexuality is a sin, is well-known for his antigay stance. In 1989, he and Jerry Regier
-- later a DCF secretary -- co-wrote an essay entitled The Christian World View of the
Family, which railed against abortion and gay couples forming families, and emphasized
that husbands have ``final say in any family dispute.''
After the Rentboy scandal broke, McCollum told The Orlando Sentinel that his office did a
``thorough search'' to find Rekers. ``There wasn't a whole lot of choice,'' McCollum told a
Sentinel columnist.
But three years before Florida hired Rekers, an Arkansas judge in 2004 denounced him
during a similar state adoption case.
In November 2008, Miami-Dade Judge Cindy Lederman awarded custody of the two boys
to Gill. In her final judgment, Lederman wrote:
``Dr. Rekers' testimony was far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant
scientific evidence. Dr. Rekers' beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and
theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony
and demeanor at trial, the court cannot consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy
of forming the basis of public policy.''
McCollum's office has appealed Lederman's ruling, and a decision is expected anytime.
``As hired counsel for the Florida Department of Children & Families, our office provided
our client with the best possible legal representation in this matter,'' said Sandi Copes,
communications director for the attorney general's office.
Copes declined to comment on the Gill case but said: ``This office will not engage or
recommend Dr. Rekers in the future.''
Rekers, a founder of the conservative Family Research Council who believes
homosexuality is a sin, is well-known for his antigay stance. In 1989, he and Jerry Regier
-- later a DCF secretary -- co-wrote an essay entitled The Christian World View of the
Family, which railed against abortion and gay couples forming families, and emphasized
that husbands have ``final say in any family dispute.''
After the Rentboy scandal broke, McCollum told The Orlando Sentinel that his office did a
``thorough search'' to find Rekers. ``There wasn't a whole lot of choice,'' McCollum told a
Sentinel columnist.
But three years before Florida hired Rekers, an Arkansas judge in 2004 denounced him
during a similar state adoption case.
| . |
``The Arkansas judge, Timothy Fox, said Rekers' testimony was worthless as evidence
because it was only his personal view,'' according to an editorial this week in The
Arkansas Leader.
The Arkansas Supreme Court also concluded Rekers' testimony ``was pointless'' and
declared the state's antigay adoption rule unconstitutional, the editorial continued.
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, the state's leading gay-rights group,
says McCollum should demand Rekers repay his fees.
``Rekers is part of a small cadre of bogus pseudo scientists that charge these
exorbitant fees to peddle information they know has been discredited time and time
again. And people like McCollum will pay top dollar for it,'' Smith said. ``There's a
reason why he can't find credible sources. Because credible people don't believe this
ban should exist.''
Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/11/v-print/1623961/bill-mccullom-requeste
d-hiring.html#ixzz0nf9BpOFN
Copyright © Miami Herald & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
because it was only his personal view,'' according to an editorial this week in The
Arkansas Leader.
The Arkansas Supreme Court also concluded Rekers' testimony ``was pointless'' and
declared the state's antigay adoption rule unconstitutional, the editorial continued.
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, the state's leading gay-rights group,
says McCollum should demand Rekers repay his fees.
``Rekers is part of a small cadre of bogus pseudo scientists that charge these
exorbitant fees to peddle information they know has been discredited time and time
again. And people like McCollum will pay top dollar for it,'' Smith said. ``There's a
reason why he can't find credible sources. Because credible people don't believe this
ban should exist.''
Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/11/v-print/1623961/bill-mccullom-requeste
d-hiring.html#ixzz0nf9BpOFN
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