LGBTQ Rights

George Rekers, the Baptist minister who rails against homosexuality yet traveled with a rentboy who gave him the “long stroke”, carries the title of “Distinguished Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science” at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He was chair of the Department of Psychology for 19 years, and taught there for 20.

According to his CV [pdf], Rekers has published extensively in secular journals on the topic of childhood sexuality. His tracts have also been published by Christian publishers. Here’s what a Florida judge said about his scholarship:

Dr. Rekers’ testimony was far from a neutral and un-biased 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 can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy.

Dan Savage has published the whole opinion, where the circuit court judge in a custody case methodically destroys Rekers’ supposedly “empirical” case against homosexual adoption.

Looking at Rekers’ CV, it’s clear that only Christian universities (Regent and St Thomas) would publish him during the last decade. So why did USC keep him on as a department chair where he could attempt to pack the department with other cranks? His co-author on his Regent University publication was “Director of Child and Adolescent Outpatient Services and Assistant Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science” when “Studies of Homosexual Parenting: A Critical Review” was written. It looks like he didn’t get tenure and moved on, but I wonder how many other slightly less cranky Rekers’ associates are still there.

Is South Carolina so fucked up that their public universities are turning into refuges for minister-professors who churn out junk science? And what about the American Psychological Association? I guess I’m not surprised that they don’t mind having this crank in their organization, since they can’t even pass a straightforward resolution against their members participating in torture sessions.

Homophobe Hypocrite and Junk ScientistPost + Comments (48)

The unmasking of yet another homophobe hypocrite minister made me think back to the good Christian state of Mississippi. A couple of months ago, I wrote about Constance MacMillen, the lesbian teenager who wanted to attend her school prom in Fulton, Mississippi. Her school had canceled the prom, but after a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, there was an agreement that Constance could attend the private prom.

It turns out that parents and students decided to hold two proms. Constance was invited to only one of them, along with 7 other students, including two with learning disabilities. As has been the case throughout this mess, Constance showed far more class than the adults in her backwater ville:

“They had the time of their lives,” McMillen says. “That’s the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn’t have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom].”

Meanwhile, in Wesson, Mississippi, Ceara Sturgis, a lesbian senior, tried to have her picture included in the yearbook. Since she was wearing a tuxedo, the administration at the Wesson Attendance Center decided to not only refuse to print the picture, but also erased her name from the pages of seniors graduating from that august institution of learning. Of course, this being Mississippi, the senior section did include a kid who had already dropped out of school.

Both of these young women have supportive families who were willing to go to bat for them. I wonder about the many who don’t, some of whom end up as suicides, runaways or both. Those kids never seem to be mentioned by Baptist minister compatriots of John Dobson who prefer their rent boys with a “perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)”.

Mississippi Goddam, RevisitedPost + Comments (86)