If you are a progressive minded person, the past few months have yielded a plethora of encouraging news. After years of meandering in the wilderness the Democrats now look poised to definitely retake the House and possibly retake the Senate. Then of course there’s the Foley scandal in which yet another champion of bigoted morality was revealed to be an even bigger sleaze than the citizens to which he condescended. But nothing has been quite as sweet as the public exposure of Pastor Ted Haggard.
For those of you that missed this story, Haggard is one of the top leaders of the religious right. Ever since Falwell and Robertson became passé, the religious right has been led by the avuncular (but evil) “Dr.” James Dobson, Donald Wildmon, and Pastor Haggard. Until a few days ago Haggard was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, a theo-political activists group, and senior pastor of New Life Bible Church, one of the super-mega churches that hosted thousands at the Justice Sunday and Liberty Sunday political rallies. Haggard was heavily featured in the recently released documentary Jesus Camp which followed young children as they attended Christian fundamentalist camps. In the documentary he bragged about having a direct line to the White House and regularly discussing policy with the President. In endless speeches, sermons, and political campaigns Haggard has been an outspoken critic of any effort to grant gay men and women civil equality. He has supported the Federal Marriage Amendment and decreed the Lawrence v. Texas Supreme Court decision as a hallmark of social decay.
Last week, a gay prostitute named Michael Jones came forward to reveal he had carried on a professional sexual relationship with Haggard for years. Not only had Haggard visited him monthly for what he describes as aggressive sexual encounters, he had also used meth with him and left repeated voicemails asking to buy the drug in large quantities. When it was first alleged, Haggard denied even knowing the “escort.” But as the voicemails were released Haggard admitted visiting the prostitute for a “massage” and buying meth once but never using it. He explained he was tempted but never followed through.
His story quickly unraveled. Jones never advertised his “masseur” services in publications other than those explicitly used to find gay escorts. Had Haggard wanted a massage he could have looked in the yellow pages and patronized any of the dozens of solons and spas that offer such services in the Colorado Springs area. In order to have even become acquainted with Jones, Haggard had to use an advertisement in a raunchy gay publication with ads for “escorts”.
Because prostitution is illegal, those offering such services have to be careful not to transparently break the law but cryptically indicate what people will get if they call. If one dares peruse the New York ‘men-seeking-men’ section of Craig’s List (not recommended) one will find many posts for men offering “ma$$ages” for “generous$e” clients. The “masseuses” are even kind enough to come to your home or “ma$$age” in cheap hotels. Similarly, all over Chinatown in New York you can find Chinese “massage” parlors with blackout curtains over windows trimmed in red lighting. People do not patronize these businesses to relieve tension in their shoulders.
After initially denying all accusations outright, then admitting to a justifiable minimum, Haggard today confessed through a letter to his congregation. The board at his church fired him and Haggard issued a statement to be read to his congregation. In it he admits "The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life.".
The revelations of Haggard’s hidden, elicit, gay identity are as delicious to some as they are devastating to others. But, they are not surprising. From many opposed to the religious right agenda and even among some of its proponents there has been a collective dismissive shrugging. Of course the man dealt with same-sex attractions. How else can one explain his opinions and career?
It was never likely Haggard was straight. For one thing, he never shut up about gay sex. In every speech he made he proclaimed the evil agenda of homosexuals. His entire adult career has been dedicated to demonizing gay people. Your average straight guy might not have a lot of gay friends. He probably doesn’t like being called gay and avoids interests that garner that accusation. But your average straight guy does not make a career out of obsessing over the sexual orientations of others. It’s just not a very straight thing to do.
Members of the religious right cannot honestly reveal their animus in public discourse. It would be much more truthful for each to just declare they don’t like gay people. Instead they come up with obtuse generalities unsupported by data or reason. According to them gay people will destroy the institution of marriage and attack the family. How? In Massachusetts where gay marriage has been legal for years straight married couples enjoy the lowest divorce rate of any state in the union. No one’s children have been eaten. Society has not collapsed. People entering into a legally binding contract are treated the same under the law – that’s all.
What is not often emphasized is that for all the shrill objections to cultural acceptance of homosexuality, the real struggle for acceptance is personal, not societal. These revelations of suppressed sexuality have become cliché among the right – and for good reason. When you struggle to accept yourself you seek to control what you can’t accept in society. In some version of twisted logic Haggard and company beat down their own inner lust through political and legal oppression of others. Every unfair law and electoral victory that impedes the progress of civil equality is equated in their minds to an emotional victory over their own gay demons.
Conservative gay Republican Andrew Sullivan cogently detailed this syndrome in the New Republic saying, “…the Foley incident is not about pedophilia, it is also not, it seems to me, about homosexuality. It's fundamentally about the closet. The closet is so psychologically destructive it often produces pathological behavior. When you compartmentalize your life, you sometimes act out in one compartment in ways that you would never condone in another one.”
And later, “what do the Vatican and the RNC have in common? Here's one potential list: entrenched homophobia, psychologically damaged closet cases, inappropriate behavior toward teens and minors ... and cover-ups designed entirely to retain power. The parallels are looking a little creepy. And the source is the same.”
Many, not all, enter into professions such as the priesthood, the moral champion politician, the anti-gay activist because in their youth they struggle with inexplicable desires. Their career choice is just another attempt at self suppression. But, when sexuality, a vital component of being human, is suppressed to such a degree it manifests itself in a variety of bizarre ways. These include fetishes, the abuse of those less powerful, and yes, careers based compulsively countering the tolerance of others.
If the religious right leaders are not struggling with their own desires then they’re struggling to accept someone within their immediate family. That too is another cliché within that crowd. The matriarch of the religious right, Phyllis Schlafly, has also made a career out of bashing gays for decades. Her son is a gay activist. Like motherly Schlafly, good ol’ Uncle Tom, aka Alan Keyes, has an outspoken lesbian daughter that he disowned and kicked out on the street years ago while she was still adolescent. Keyes has referred to homosexuals, including his own daughter, as “selfish, hedonistic” and “mentally ill.” Randall Terry, another up and coming leader of the religious right, gained national attention for his leading role in the Terri Shiavo debacle. He too has a gay son that he disowned and hasn’t spoken to for years. In endless publicity photos of the Randall family, Terry is pictured with his wife and adoring children. What never gets mentioned is one child’s conspicuous absence. Finally, the don of the religious right, Dobson, has a son plagued by more gay rumors than Tom Cruise. For almost two decades a parade of men has come forward claiming sexual encounters with Dobson’s son – and then they’re never heard from again.
For all the claims of moral superiority, these leaders fail in their own families and in their own lives. It is hard to imagine anyone disowning a child they raised or calling their babies hedonistic no matter the degree of moral failing. This sick demonstration of “parenting” is common among those claiming to defend the family.
Like many political issues, the guiding force is emotional and personal. They can’t accept themselves or their children so they devote their lives to the prevention of cultural acceptance. In the lead up to the 2004 elections, Pastor Haggard’s sermons took a decidedly political turn. I remember hearing about his church and their barely skating through with tax exempt status in tact. And within each political screed there was always a baseless attack on gay men. Could it be that Haggard’s weekly pulpit-rants were really an effort to beat down the flaming queen within? Was Haggard really concerned with marrying couples far away in Massachusetts or the adult male that enjoyed rough gay sex staring at him in the mirror every morning?
Like Dobson, Falwell, and all the others, Haggard made a fortune bashing gays. His combined salary from the mega church and National Association of Evangelicals made him a multi-millionaire. But we now know he spent a portion of the money collected from his followers to be brutally sodomized by a member of the community he demonized. The same proverbial gay male that made Haggard rich took those riches to fulfill Haggard’s repressed homosexual needs. That story is bizarre and could make for a surprise ending to a dramatic narrative. It could, if it just didn’t make such perfect sense.
