UPDATE, 5/6/10: This just in from NARTH
NARTH RESPONDS TO THE RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE OF DR. GEORGE REKERS
The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is a professional scientific organization with hundreds of academic, research, and clinical members dedicated to assisting individuals dealing with unwanted homosexual attractions. While NARTH is focused on the science of homosexual attraction, personal controversies often deepen the existing cultural divide on this issue. Such is the case in the recent news stories concerning one of our members, Dr. George Rekers.
NARTH takes seriously the accusations that have been made, and we are currently attempting to understand the details behind these press reports. We are always saddened when this type of controversy impacts the lives of individuals, and we urge all parties to allow a respectful and thorough investigation to take place.
At this difficult time for the families and individuals involved, we extend our sympathies. We also wish to reiterate our traditional position that these personal controversies do not change the scientific data, nor do they detract from the important work of NARTH.
NARTH continues to support scientific research, and to value client autonomy, client self-determination and client diversity.
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UPDATE 2: Rekers has responded further…
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The unfolding saga of Dr. George Rekers is sad and unseemly all at once. The NARTH advisor and Family Research Council co-founder recently admitted traveling with a male escort for hire although he denies any sexual behavior. Given Dr. Rekers prominence in social conservative circles, this story is stunning to the same degree as the initial claims regarding Ted Haggard. Despite my strong disagreements with Rekers on matters of sexual orientation research, I had hoped that the story was false, and still hope for some good to come from it.
As more disclosures emerge from him and the young man, it becomes increasing difficult not to discuss the same kind of issues which arose during the initial days of the Haggard revelation. One organization which is vitally connected to Dr. Rekers and those issues is the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). I checked with Executive Secretary, David Pruden, yesterday about a response attributed to NARTH and he denied the statement. It first showed up in the same paper that broke the Rekers story, the Miami New Times. According the that paper, a NARTH representative said:
You have as much information as we do. Before this released we didn’t have this much information. All we had was a simple accusation that he was with a “rent boy” so that was all we were able to talk about with him. His answers (as well as his demeanor) showed that the story wasn’t exactly as it seamed [sic]. There are certain accusations that would and wouldn’t surprise certain people about others. This comes as a complete surprise as Dr. Rekers is not only very old and in very poor health, but also very nice and soft spoken, so until we have further information or proof of this incident it remains rumor and speculation.
I asked Mr. Pruden if NARTH had authorized this statement and his crisp reply was
We have said absolutely nothing.
Dr. Rekers is on the NARTH board, their scientific advisory board and the editorial board of their self-published journal.
Phelim McIntyre,
You write as though this were simply a case of gay activists rejoicing over the discomfiture and embarrassment of a man who has just been quietly getting on with his life, perhaps suffering internal conflict but doing no harm to a soul, and whose indiscretions, whatever they may be, have come to light. It isn’t.
Speaking for myself, I find it extremely gratifying that his credibility has been shattered in this way, not because of any personal animosity towards him – I’ve never even met him – but because the mindset that he represents fills me with horror and revulsion. It’s not just a matter of some cranky theory (e.g. creationism, geocentricism or perpetual motion) which has no actual concrete effect on real life. As Rachel Maddow puts it, he is a man who has built his career on trying to make life miserable and dangerous for gay people and who is still doing it. “…He’s quite actively engaged in trying to change this country [America] to make it a more difficult place to be gay – particularly a more difficult place to be a young gay person.”
This episode should serve as a salutary warning to others who are making an occupation out of playing dishonest and abusive games with other people’s lives.
Oops my bad.. Haggard was not outed by someone that was young ..
I suppose there is a remote chance that this young man was one of many allegedly interviewed to be an assistant to Dr Rekers and perhaps he did not know the young man’s true profession. In other words that it was a set up. However the multitude of contradictory responses by Dr Rekers per various news sources (assuming they are accurate) would seem to discredit this possiblility.
On a different note… assuming that he was having some sort of sexual realtions with this young man… I am wondering if the issue with Dr. Rekers is not that he is gay but that he has some fascination with having sex with young ‘boyish’ men (a form of pseudo-pedophilia) similar to Haggard’s story of sex with a young male prostitute. And if so could this be a possible explanation for the severe anti-gay attitudes that come out of people like him? Perhaps in the process of battling their own demons they are also severely against all same sex attractions in people and seek to change them with the hopes of changing their own attractions. I think this is called transference. I am not painting all who believe in orientation change with the same brush here. I am just wondering if this might be possible for some. On the other hand perhaps I am just making illusory correlations such as what Dr Throckmorton mentioned earlier.
Phelim M – which story of Rekers are we to believe though? And the e-mail from him via Rentboy.com, how is that to be explained?
Truth is a defence. We know Rekers lies under oath, that’s been found to be the case by at least two judges.
We must all be careful not to only see what we want to see. Hence my references. I still am probably biased, but my prejudice precludes me from seeing exactly where.
Rick – time to shot someone when they are down because of your own prejudices. Oh well – so Rekers is at war with himself, yet is they gay lobby who runs a new McCarthyism which Rekers is now a victim off. I doubt that if Rekers wins the libel case the gay lobby will report that fact because that isn’t in line with their prejudiced unholy agenda.
Tim – In social psych, we call those illusory correlations. While there may be a real relationship, one cannot inferred one from vivid cases like these. My reaction is that homosexuality occurs for reasons that are probably common to humanity and can occur in many contexts, both supportive of it and non-supportive. Without a controlled study, I would be reluctant to infer a relationship. Good question, though, and one that might inspire a researcher somewhere…
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-interview-with-jo-vanni-roman.html
The cat is out of the bag — one of the pillars of the evangelical ex-gay movement has proven to be a MASSIVE hypocrite, a man who was paid generously on behalf of conservative enemies of gay rights to lobby against gay adoption and gay marriage, and for decades being cited as a “leading authority” on why homosexuality is pathological by anti-gay media outlets, has now proven not only to be gay himself, and actively helping himself to gay sex, but helping himself to gay sex with young male prostitutes — a compound of the “sin” of homosexuality with the “sin” of seeing a prostitute with the “sin” of an elder exploiting a youth.
Many of us who are openly and unashamedly gay have long known that the most vocal anti-gay advocates were in a war as much with themselves as with the rest of us. This should pretty much make everybody at NARTH and Exodus look suspect.
That is….
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/05/things_rekers_said_to_lucien_w.php
And I do not know that it would stop doubt.
There is no question in my mind that the story is true, and the New Times has just w/in the last few hours broken a new chapter in the story, a phone conversation on which 2 NT reporters eavesdropped, that should put to rest any doubt.
I find it fascinating that the expert witness for the state of Florida who opined that homosexuals and Native Americans should be prevented from adopting has himself adopted kids. Boys, to be more precise. At least he isn’t Native American.
Dr. Throckmorton, do you have an opinion as to why homosexuality seems to be so prevalent in the families of anti-gay activists? If it isn’t the anti-gay activist himself who turns out to be gay, it is often a close family member. I am thinking here of the son of Dr. Charles Socarides, the son of the state senator who brought the first anti-marriage initiative to CA, the sister of Frank Schubert, the campaign manager for Prop 8, the son of Phyllis Schafly, the son of Rev. TD Jakes, and on and on. If it is nurture and not nature, then what did Dr. Socarides do to turn his son into a living, breathing threat to Western civilization?
I have to help pick up the pieces. Trans women and gay men who went through this, and have been terribly damaged by that.
I don’t care a fig what Reckers did to whom, with what, or when or how, in Spain, on a Plane, in the Rain, whatever, as they were all consenting adults.
But he tortured kids. He makes money from selling books on how to torture kids. He lies, blatantly, about the effectiveness of his methods, and shows neither remorse nor repentance.
The harm that he has done is incalculable, his malign influence poisoning the science everywhere, and making him a lot of money in the process:
Some of the direct results of his work:
Try as I might, I read those words, and all my scientific objectivity vanishes. I loathe the man.
Because I have no formal psychological training, I have to pick up the pieces, and sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I fail. And there’s another FUCKING suicide of a woman denied access to her kids when the courts give them to drug addicts and sexual abusers as long as they’re OK’d by the Fine Upstanding Baptist Minister Dr R.
Please pardon my unladylike language. I reserve it for special occasions. This qualifies.
Now I’m going to go read 1 Corinthians 13 again, and try to be charitable.
You know, I’m not angry at him? I’m angry at the situation, at the injustice, at the pain. I’m angry at the enablers, the hypocrites, the liars, those who get the money rolling in by professional persecution.
I’m even starting to feel a little compassion for Dr R. How tortured he must have been. I hope he gets help. But he can never, ever give restitution for what he’s done. Neither he, nor NARTH, nor the Fake Pediatricians, nor the TVC or whatever.
So I better get off my posterior and see what I can do to ameliorate the situation, no? Not whinge and complain, but do something useful.
One also has to wonder how Dr Rekers managed to contact his travelling companion, if not via the advertisement for his services as a “travelling companion” at Rentboy.com.
According to Dr Rekers taped testimony, he “may have” contacted his companion via Rentboy.com, but he has later denied this. He has also variously stated in writing that he only found out his companion’s profession during the holiday, and that he hired a prostitute so he could reform him – something of a contradiction.
Again, please treat these words as suspect. I’ve really tried hard to be fair, but no objective person could trust what I have to say without fact-checking it in detail. Basically,I wouldn’t trust me!
Now on to why I am prejudiced…..
The published pictures of Dr Rekers handling his own luggage merely show him to be loading and pushing them on a cart at an airport, for which he may have needed no assistance.
Other testimony, regarding this companion’s alleged nude massage:
Erotic Massage, but arguably not “sexual activity” as such. And not illegal in Spain. “It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is.” as one President said. And Dr Rekers has not commented on this allegation.
Whether such alleged behaviour is “appropriate” or not is a matter of opinion, not fact, in law.
The companion in question is the same age as Dr Rekers adopted son. We don’t know if there is any physical resemblance.
Hypothetically, should a man conceive a sexual attraction to his teenage or young adult son, a responsible and moral (IMHO) course of action would be to hire a professional to help him confront such urges, either to withstand them, or if to give in, to do so with no harm to anyone, as they are all consenting adults. Should Dr Rekers have done this, it would be to his great credit, and would improve my opinion of him enormously. Given Dr Rekers sworn testimony in court about “what homosexuals are like as parents”, the question has to arise whether he was speaking from personal experience, and projecting his feelings on to homosexuals in general.
I urge anyone who reads my post below to bear in mind that I am prejudiced against Dr Rekers, for reasons that will be obvious in my next post. Despite my best efforts to be properly charitable and unbiased, I cannot say with an open heart that I can be objective on this issue. So my words should be treated as suspect, and assertions of fact should be checked, lest I fall into the trap of seeing what I want to see, rather than what is actually there.
As Dr Rekers says on his website
Dr Rekers has been very careful in his wording here, and in the questions below, which leave neither party in danger of criminal prosecution. It’s called “getting their story straight”, and I readily believe the words to be literally and strictly true.
Note the careful wording, which means that the companion cannot be brought up on charges of prostitution. Any sexual activity that may have occurred was not for pre-arranged payment. And a prostitute may be legally hired, if not for any ostensibly sexual purpose.
Even if Rekers really HAS no same-sex longings and even if there WAS no hanky-panky on his vacation, the fact remains that this lifelong opponent of gay rights and lifelong critic of homosexuality hired a young and handsome gay male prostitute to share a room with him for ten days on a trip; those facts are not in dispute. How can that NOT raise any eyebrows among the most religious and conservative enemies of “the homosexual agenda”? How completely gullible do you have to be that the whole affair, shall we say, was completely innocuous?
David Blakeslee,
🙂
…another thought:
“I am the light of the world.” Jesus.
It seems it is always this way…the awkward relationship…the “plausible explanation” and then the facts…
Rekers denies he is gay in an email to the Miami New Times Blogs:
Honestly, getting together with his escort to create the answers he likes? So then, the winner is a grossly-impaired judgement – twice. All his titles won’t help him at all. There comes a time where you shut up and hire a lawyer, that came for Rekers when he left the airport.
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Even if what Rekers says is absolutely truthful; the man has shown such poor judgement so as to ruin his own reputation from this point on. Nothing could have happened and yet the escort would out him simply considering the gay/anti-gay animus that Rekers engenders.
So it comes down to Rekers as being either homosexual/bisexual or so cognitively impaired as to exhibit a grossly-impaired judgement. Either way he’ll never testify in a court case against gays &/or lesbians again.
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Oh, well of course very nice and soft spoken very old men (61) in poor health could not possibly be same-sex attracted or act on their attractions.
his “escort” reported that he is in fact gay.
http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/05/06/Rekers_Is_Gay_Escort/