Follow up on the tragic case of Rev. Brent Dugan

by David Blakeslee

In November, 2006, Presbyterian minister Brent Dugan was about to be outed and took his own life in a Mercer, PA hotel room. I wrote about that tragic event here and was prompted to look into aftermath of the situation by a recent comment left on that post from a person who knew Rev. Dugan.

On July 1, 2010 I called the Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania and spoke with their executive director, Rev. Dr. Donald B. Green about the FCC complaint which was asserted by others to be filed against KDKA for its sensationalistic and provocative reporting on Pastor Dugan’s personal behavior.

Reverend Green was very generous to answer questions by phone from a person he did not know.  According to Reverend Green CASP is an association of pastors and bishops which need to reach consensus in legal matters before filing formal complaints to government bodies like the FCC.  Reverend Green stated that unfortunately, such a consensus could not be reached among participants in this association.  Instead they reached a consensus about facilitating a formal meeting with KDKA on the ethical issues involved in reporting Pastor Dugan’s private behavior in such a sensationalistic way.  The results of that meeting can be found here.

We also discussed the reporter involved in the Dugan journalistic “investigation.”  Marty Griffin apparently had a sensationalistic “journalistic” style prior to his targeting of Pastor Dugan.  This style cost his previous employer 2.2 million to settle the defamation suit that followed:

In 1997, Griffin’s then-employer, Dallas station KXAS-TV Channel 5, paid a reported $2.2 million to settle a defamation suit arising from a story Griffin aired about Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin. In that story, a topless dancer accused Irvin of participating in a rape with two other men — accusations she later recanted, and which resulted in perjury charges against her. Griffin also conducted a hidden-camera investigation of Irvin’s purported drug-buying activities, a story for which KXAS paid an informant $6,000. The station admitted no wrongdoing in the 1997 settlement, which Griffin opposed. In fact, Griffin’s online bio on the KDKA Web site boasts of winning awards for his reporting on Irvin, and adds, “That’s right — Michael Irvin doesn’t like Marty Griffin very much.”

Reverend Green reports that Mr. Griffin currently has a talk radio show which takes advantage of his sensationalistic and emotional style.

I would encourage readers to review the article above which thoughtfully addresses the chronology of events, the important considerations that journalists should consider when judging religious leaders who are in violation of their vows and the brand of journalists who may be ratings driven, rather than ethically driven in their pursuits.

 

12 thoughts on “Follow up on the tragic case of Rev. Brent Dugan”

  1. Thanks Jim, God is changing my view of the world, one relationship at a time. I am grateful you exist.

  2. Stephen,

    Thanks for the follow-up. I a back to back today and tomorrow and want to follow up. I have read your note and see that you carefully crafted this follow-up response.

  3. Yes, I call that a sad life that is corroded by fear of discovery. His death gives us the measure of his fear. Did he really think his congregation would be so unforgiving? What does that say about them?

    You used the phrase “What kind of people patiently plan and then wait for such a person’s failure?” Not “What kind of person…” which implies that gay men in general are being condemned. Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean to be condemnatory or impute motives to anyone. Comments make one sound more emphatic than is necessarily the case. I only remarked on this because I found the man’s life and death deserving of pity and perhaps his example might encourage some to broaden their perspective.

    I use the term ex-gay industry because it is run for profit by people who are completely without professional credentials. It is a branch of the personal actualization industry, just more narrowly focused. No research supports its claims, in fact the reverse is true, but yet we still have to endure the constant rehashing of Nicolosi and Cameron’s nonsense. Reality doesn’t seem to matter. The term SSA doesn’t exist anywhere outside the ex-gay industry and is entirely polluted by it. I would suggest that this notion that women are more fluid in their sexuality is mostly cultural given a circumstantial boost by the biological fact that it is easier for a woman to fake interest in a man than the other way round. Personally, I look forward to the day when we can move past these severely limiting terms, when sexuality can be allowed to be an aspect of a life and not its defining feature. But so long as so many people make such a good living off it I fear that won’t happen soon.

    Maggie Gallagher is very much to the point. She is an aspect of what we have to endure on a daily basis. And since she’s always talking about God why would I not reckon her to be a Christian and therefor a vocal spokesperson for the overwhelming majority that tries to harm my life. A majority that clearly harmed this poor man’s life and caused him to kill himself rather than admit he was gay. That is the problem.

  4. Stephen,

    Thanks for the follow-up. I a back to back today and tomorrow and want to follow up. I have read your note and see that you carefully crafted this follow-up response.

  5. Yes, I call that a sad life that is corroded by fear of discovery. His death gives us the measure of his fear. Did he really think his congregation would be so unforgiving? What does that say about them?

    You used the phrase “What kind of people patiently plan and then wait for such a person’s failure?” Not “What kind of person…” which implies that gay men in general are being condemned. Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean to be condemnatory or impute motives to anyone. Comments make one sound more emphatic than is necessarily the case. I only remarked on this because I found the man’s life and death deserving of pity and perhaps his example might encourage some to broaden their perspective.

    I use the term ex-gay industry because it is run for profit by people who are completely without professional credentials. It is a branch of the personal actualization industry, just more narrowly focused. No research supports its claims, in fact the reverse is true, but yet we still have to endure the constant rehashing of Nicolosi and Cameron’s nonsense. Reality doesn’t seem to matter. The term SSA doesn’t exist anywhere outside the ex-gay industry and is entirely polluted by it. I would suggest that this notion that women are more fluid in their sexuality is mostly cultural given a circumstantial boost by the biological fact that it is easier for a woman to fake interest in a man than the other way round. Personally, I look forward to the day when we can move past these severely limiting terms, when sexuality can be allowed to be an aspect of a life and not its defining feature. But so long as so many people make such a good living off it I fear that won’t happen soon.

    Maggie Gallagher is very much to the point. She is an aspect of what we have to endure on a daily basis. And since she’s always talking about God why would I not reckon her to be a Christian and therefor a vocal spokesperson for the overwhelming majority that tries to harm my life. A majority that clearly harmed this poor man’s life and caused him to kill himself rather than admit he was gay. That is the problem.

  6. Stephen, thanks for checking in with your concerns.

    I am not saying he was entrapped; I am saying that love whether gay or straight is an incredibly vulnerable act.

    The treachery, as far as I am concerned, is when a person involved in an emotional relationship (that may be also sexual) uses that relationship to publicly shame someone. Especially where there is a disproportionate ability to harm someone with much greater to lose.

    A straight friend of mine once said, “I made sure when I had affairs to do so with someone who had just as much to lose as I did, because I knew the urge to punish and humiliate gets triggered in forbidden love, of all kinds.”

    Seeing Dugan’s life as sad is…odd. His whole life? I am sad he hid, that no one even knew this part of him and could have supported him. I am sad that at a time of terror, when his secret was about to be revealed for the most base reasons, that he did not have a confidant to tell him, “this is survivable, you deserve grace, maybe it is time to let even more people care for you.”

    Sad for his whole life? I am sad he was alone with his fears and disgust for his whole life.

    I do not subscribe to the notions of an ex-gay “industry.”

    SSA is a valuable term for a variety of reasons (as sexuality is more fluid in women and there are people who publicly identify as SSA without shame in Christian circles). That being said, I do not wish to deemphasize the power and centrality of sexual attractions for manay and a person’s right and need to build a meaningful identity around the labels gay and lesbian.

    Maggie Gallagher…

    Maybe we can separate these discussions out…which I think would be more fruitful.

  7. Reading this story so close to the outing of Tom Brock by Lavender magazine could lead one to believe the two incidents are related. They aren’t. Indeed, this particular outing is the antithesis of Brock’s. Here we have a man hounded by the straight press, in this case a TV station, to boost ratings. Brock was outed because of a long history of the virulent slander of gay men and women and for working actively to hurt them. That he is gay himself might give the impression that his actions are, to be charitable, hypocritical. His outing, whether or not one agrees with it, was done from principle. The same cannot be said about the treatment of Dugan.

    However, I would hope that some lessons might be learned from Rev Dugan’s sad life and sadder death. The first might be understanding the toxicity of the closet. Another might be to finally grasp how ridiculous is the notion that one’s sexuality is a matter of ‘choice’ – here was a man who spent his life trying not to be what he was. Think how different his life might have been had been able to be honest about himself and share his life with another man who cared for him and to whom he could have been married. I find it hard to believe that he was ‘forced’ to do the things he claimed. Perhaps he was, though it sounds unlikely. What a pity that David Blakeslee should characterize this as ‘treachery’ when really he doesn’t know. Perhaps it was different, perhaps the reverend was too ashamed to be able to admit to his own actions. I don’t know. But I’m saddened that those speaking of him should be so quick to condemn same-sex relationships. In this story we are asked to believe that he was in fact entrapped by another gay man. In Mr. Blakeslee’s account clearly the gays are the villains. “What kind of people patiently plan and then wait for such a person’s failure?” This is not acceptable. “That man cajoled him into leaving specific kinds of sexual fantasies on his answering machine, and then betrayed him by setting up a meeting at an adult bookstore”. This makes no sense whatsoever. Who is ever ‘forced’ to leave messages on another’s answering machine and what kind of ‘meeting’ could take place at an adult bookstore?

    So can we read about this man and stop with the language of the ex-gay industry? The use of the nonsensical ‘SSA’, for example? If you set out to make someone believe that their most intimate and profound feelings are sick and shameful you can’t then be surprised when, after a lifetime of torment, they kill themselves. Now think of all the teenagers whose lives are so poisoned by the rants of Maggie Gallagher and her ilk that they can’t face living. She is bringing her humbuggery to Albany soon and I must be faced in the state where I live and pay taxes with the lies put out by a Catholic groups funded by Mormons: NOM.

    I’ve spent some time thinking about and writing this comment. I rarely bother but despite the intense irritation I feel at some of the comment I think on the whole the regulars here are intelligent and well-meaning people. I would beg you to read over the accounts of this case, it’s well worth your time, and think of the implications.

  8. Stephen, thanks for checking in with your concerns.

    I am not saying he was entrapped; I am saying that love whether gay or straight is an incredibly vulnerable act.

    The treachery, as far as I am concerned, is when a person involved in an emotional relationship (that may be also sexual) uses that relationship to publicly shame someone. Especially where there is a disproportionate ability to harm someone with much greater to lose.

    A straight friend of mine once said, “I made sure when I had affairs to do so with someone who had just as much to lose as I did, because I knew the urge to punish and humiliate gets triggered in forbidden love, of all kinds.”

    Seeing Dugan’s life as sad is…odd. His whole life? I am sad he hid, that no one even knew this part of him and could have supported him. I am sad that at a time of terror, when his secret was about to be revealed for the most base reasons, that he did not have a confidant to tell him, “this is survivable, you deserve grace, maybe it is time to let even more people care for you.”

    Sad for his whole life? I am sad he was alone with his fears and disgust for his whole life.

    I do not subscribe to the notions of an ex-gay “industry.”

    SSA is a valuable term for a variety of reasons (as sexuality is more fluid in women and there are people who publicly identify as SSA without shame in Christian circles). That being said, I do not wish to deemphasize the power and centrality of sexual attractions for manay and a person’s right and need to build a meaningful identity around the labels gay and lesbian.

    Maggie Gallagher…

    Maybe we can separate these discussions out…which I think would be more fruitful.

  9. Reading this story so close to the outing of Tom Brock by Lavender magazine could lead one to believe the two incidents are related. They aren’t. Indeed, this particular outing is the antithesis of Brock’s. Here we have a man hounded by the straight press, in this case a TV station, to boost ratings. Brock was outed because of a long history of the virulent slander of gay men and women and for working actively to hurt them. That he is gay himself might give the impression that his actions are, to be charitable, hypocritical. His outing, whether or not one agrees with it, was done from principle. The same cannot be said about the treatment of Dugan.

    However, I would hope that some lessons might be learned from Rev Dugan’s sad life and sadder death. The first might be understanding the toxicity of the closet. Another might be to finally grasp how ridiculous is the notion that one’s sexuality is a matter of ‘choice’ – here was a man who spent his life trying not to be what he was. Think how different his life might have been had been able to be honest about himself and share his life with another man who cared for him and to whom he could have been married. I find it hard to believe that he was ‘forced’ to do the things he claimed. Perhaps he was, though it sounds unlikely. What a pity that David Blakeslee should characterize this as ‘treachery’ when really he doesn’t know. Perhaps it was different, perhaps the reverend was too ashamed to be able to admit to his own actions. I don’t know. But I’m saddened that those speaking of him should be so quick to condemn same-sex relationships. In this story we are asked to believe that he was in fact entrapped by another gay man. In Mr. Blakeslee’s account clearly the gays are the villains. “What kind of people patiently plan and then wait for such a person’s failure?” This is not acceptable. “That man cajoled him into leaving specific kinds of sexual fantasies on his answering machine, and then betrayed him by setting up a meeting at an adult bookstore”. This makes no sense whatsoever. Who is ever ‘forced’ to leave messages on another’s answering machine and what kind of ‘meeting’ could take place at an adult bookstore?

    So can we read about this man and stop with the language of the ex-gay industry? The use of the nonsensical ‘SSA’, for example? If you set out to make someone believe that their most intimate and profound feelings are sick and shameful you can’t then be surprised when, after a lifetime of torment, they kill themselves. Now think of all the teenagers whose lives are so poisoned by the rants of Maggie Gallagher and her ilk that they can’t face living. She is bringing her humbuggery to Albany soon and I must be faced in the state where I live and pay taxes with the lies put out by a Catholic groups funded by Mormons: NOM.

    I’ve spent some time thinking about and writing this comment. I rarely bother but despite the intense irritation I feel at some of the comment I think on the whole the regulars here are intelligent and well-meaning people. I would beg you to read over the accounts of this case, it’s well worth your time, and think of the implications.

  10. Thanks Jim, God is changing my view of the world, one relationship at a time. I am grateful you exist.

  11. I was living in Dallas when the whole Marty Griffin / Michael irvin thing exploded. Channel 5 was trying to out-sensationalize everyone else and Griffin was their star. I was never so happy to see anyone get yanked off the air as I was to see him gone. The man is bad news. I had no idea he was behind this episode.

  12. I was living in Dallas when the whole Marty Griffin / Michael irvin thing exploded. Channel 5 was trying to out-sensationalize everyone else and Griffin was their star. I was never so happy to see anyone get yanked off the air as I was to see him gone. The man is bad news. I had no idea he was behind this episode.

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