Well, he *does* appear to have a lot of baggage…

From POLITICAL HOTSHEET at CBS NEWS:

You might not know [George Alan] Rekers, but he has long played a prominent role behind the scenes in the social conservative movement: A member of the founding board of the conservative Family Research Council, Rekers has authored books on how to ensure that children grow up straight.

A Baptist minister and former research fellow at Harvard University, Rekers has testified against gay adoptions and is on the board of National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, which is focused on helping gay people turn straight.

According to [a Miami] New Times story, by Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp, Rekers was spotted returning from a ten-day trip to Europe with a young man identified as Lucien [the name he uses at the site is Geo], who he allegedly met on a gay website called Rentboy.com.

It’s that old argument–I’m not gay, but my boyfriend is!

Original DVD cover

On that site, Lucien appeared shirtless, and his physical attributes were described in detail; he was identified as “HIV and Disease FREE,” offered “a sensual meet or companionship” and said he will “do anything you say as long as you ask.”

The New Times posted a photograph of Rekers with a young man said to be Lucien at the Miami airport; it also spoke to Lucien, who indicated he had met Rekers on Rentboy.com. The story says Rekers himself did not deny that he met Lucien on the site, though he said he did not know he was a prostitute until midway through the vacation. Rekers insisted in the story that he hired Lucien because he “can’t lift luggage” and needed a companion.

…snip…

Now Rekers is publicly responding to the story: In a statement posted on his website, Rekers calls the piece “misleading” and says it “cleverly gave false impressions of inappropriate behavior.” The implication that he had hired a prostitute, he said, was incorrect.

“Contrary to Internet stories based on this slanderous article, following medical advice Professor George Rekers requires an assistant to lift his luggage in his travels because of an ongoing condition following surgery,” said Rekers.

…snip…

Rekers also apparently replied to a Facebook message from the blog “Joe.My.God.” In his message, Rekers denies that he is gay. He writes, “My hero is Jesus Christ who loves even the culturally despised people, including sexual sinners and prostitutes. Like Jesus Christ, I deliberately spend time with sinners with the loving goal to try to help them.”

…snip…

Contacted for comment, the Family Research Council confirmed that Rekers was a member of its founding board.

“Reports have been circulating regarding Dr. Rekers relationship with a male prostitute,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “FRC has had no contact with Dr. Rekers or knowledge of his activities in over a decade so FRC can provide no further insight into these allegations.”

Now, kids, before you start saying nasty things about poor George Alan (did you giggle that his name sounds just like George Macaca Allen, even if it’s spelled differently?) Rekers, I can understand how this happened.  Here’s a bit of what Geo’s ad said, and you can see how ol’ George might have thought that it was an ad for someone who was looking for a job as a luggage schlepper (via Joe.My.God. blog):

Massage, good times, Travel, escort for days, nights and weekends, My name’s Geo. 20 year old, 5’9”, 130 pounds, 28” waist size,8×6″ UNCUT, VERSATILE, NICE ASS. Puerto Rican, fair/light-Skin, blond hair, blue eyes and athletic/muscular built. I’m a college guy, masculine, educated, really easy-going, great to get along with, can hold a conversation and passionate You could just say I love to have a good time. Very clean, professional, HIV and Disease FREE. For a sensual meet or companionship. Will do anything you say as long as you ask ;D Repeat encounters are always more exciting for me and make it more casual and comfortable for you as well. Call or text anytime.

See what I mean? To tell the truth, if I was looking for a luggage schlepper, I probably wouldn’t have picked a guy who only weighs 130 pounds, but apparently Geo has a donkey (who is uncut, versatile, and nice), so I guess Geo doesn’t have to do the actual schlepping. I just wonder how he gets the donkey on the airplanes. Anyway, you can see how ol’ George might have gotten confused. You can see Geo’s stats at the Joe.My.God. link. Don’t bother going to Rentboy, as Geo’s profile has been deleted.

Here’s a bit more from Miami New Times:

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.)

…snip…

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.

…snip…

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.

…snip…

“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.

…snip…

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.

…snip…

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 would have been transported to a front page covered with images of naked, tumescent men busily sodomizing each other.