BREAKING NEWS: #1 EX-GAY LEADER REPORTEDLY CAUGHT IN DC GAY BAR
Claims he was only peeing; 40 minutes and a drink later
It’s been a bad couple of weeks for celebrity gay couples.
First Anne and Ellen, then Melissa and Julie, now John and Anne.
John and Anne?
John Paulk - the nation’s most famous “ex-gay” - was reportedly
caught in a gay bar in Washington, DC late last night by Wayne Besen
and Darryl Herrschaft of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Paulk, you’ll recall, was on the cover of Newsweek on August
17, 1998, with his “wife” Anne, proclaiming that they used to
be gay, but now are cured. John Paulk is currently Chairman
of the North American Board of Exodus International, “the largest
homosexual-recovery organization in the world” (they say). Paulk is
literally the militant fundamentalist’s number one poster boy
for “ex-gays” - his wife even appeared in the infamous “ex-
gay” ads two years back. Read his bio here:
http://www.exodusnorthamerica.org/speakers/speakers/a0000165.html
[You can read Joel Lawson’s breaking story about Paulk’s
“outing” at Southern Voice’s Web site û LawsonÆs story includes
photos taken on the scene by HRCÆs Besen:
http://www.southernvoice.com/southernvoice/news/record.html?record=10262 ]
It all began when HRC staffer Daryl Herrschaft, 27, decided
to grab a drink at a local bar to unwind. “I wanted to get a
drink where I didn’t think I’d know anybody,” Herrschaft told
me. Unfortunately for Herrschaft, about 9:45PM last night
someone walked in who looked very much like someone he knew:
“ex-gay” celebrity John Paulk.
Herrschaft thought he recognized the man as Paulk, but didn’t really
focus on the import of what he’d seen until he turned around
about 15 minutes later and the man was standing right behind
him. Herrschaft said hi, and struck up a conversation with
the Paulk look-alike in which the individual admitted his name
was John, and that he was from Colorado Springs (Paulk does in fact live
in Colorado Springs). Herrschaft says he asked if the man was gay,
and he said yes. The man then reportedly offered to buy him a drink
(Herrschaft declined).
“He was a hostile witness,” Herrschaft told me. “He was
evasive, but he kept me engaged. He wouldn’t let the
conversation die.” The man claimed he worked in “graphic
design,” and when Herrschaft asked him his last name, he said
said “Clint.” Herrschaft responded, “are you sure it’s not
Paulk?” The man said no. After about 5 to 7 minutes,
Herrschaft excused himself, found a phone, and called HRC’s
Wayne Besen.
Wayne Besen, HRC’s deputy press secretary, is an expert on
the “ex-gays” and has debated Paulk and met him more than
once. Besen arrived at the bar, camera in tow, about 40
minutes after Herrschaft initially saw reputed “ex-gay” enter the bar.
As soon as Besen entered, the man apparently recognized him
- and Besen absolutely recognized the man as Paulk. According to
witnesses, the man tried to hide, so Besen started
snapping photos. The bar owner, unaware of who Besen was, or
what was going on, escorted him out of the bar (presumably
because he thought this was perhaps some homophobe harassing
a gay customer). Besen then explained to the bouncer what was
going on, while the reputed “ex-gay” reportedly asked a bar employee if
there was a back way out of the establishment - the employee
reportedly refused to help.
A few minutes later, Herrschaft says the man exited the bar’s
front door, “head down, walking in a straight line up the
street very quickly.” HRC’s camera-toting Besen followed him
all the way to the Dupont Circle metro stop, about 2 blocks.
How is Besen sure this was Paulk? First, because Paulk reportedly
phoned Besen today and told him he was at the bar, and just
stepping in to use the bathroom, he now claims (Focus on the
Family also confirmed to Southern Voice’s Lawson this morning
that Paulk was in DC on business). Paulk also reportedly called Lawson,
and told him the same “bathroom” story he gave Besen. Besen
reportedly asked Paulk why it took him over 40 minutes to use
the bathroom (the amount of time between when Paulk was first
spotted by HRC staff, and Besen’s arrival), and why, if he
was just using the bathroom, was Paulk reportedly seated at the bar,
drink in hand (Lawson says Paulk told him it was water), reportedly in
intimate conversation with another male customer? And, were
Paulk simply using the bathroom, why did he reportedly lie to HRC’s
staff when they confronted him, pretending he was really
“John Clint”?
I had raised doubts about Paulk’s “cure” two years ago. At
the time, I reported that “In a previously forgotten Wall
Street Journal interview, the nation’s most prominent ‘ex-
gay,’ John Paulk, admitted to not being 100% cured of his
homosexuality even though he was already married to a woman.”
On April 21, 1993, John Paulk admitted to the Wall Street
Journal that his new-found straight orientation was not as
intense as that of the “average man on the street.” Paulk
confessed that he was unsure he would ever have the
“intensity for sex with women” that most straight men have.
In the same interview, Paulk also put cold water on the
notion that he and his wife were yet cured of their gay
orientations: “To say that we’ve arrived at this place of
total heterosexuality - that we’re totally healed - is
misleading,” Paulk told the Journal. Time magazine added
further fuel to the Paulk credibility fire. On July
27, 1998, the magazine reported being unable to find even one
former girlfriend of the supposedly former-lesbian Anne
Paulk. Mrs. Paulk refused to offer the name of a single
lesbian lover. In addition, Time reports that Paulk “conceded
that her ties to women in college were ‘more emotional than
sexual.’” Things that make you go hmmmm.
Paulk picked one hell of a place to pee, if that’s his final
answer to the accusations. Mr. P’s is not exactly the Taj Mahal
of gay bars in Washington, DC (and is conveniently kitty-corner
from the most notorious pick-up spot in the city: P-Street
Beach, which is actually a dark wooded area.) And there are
lots of places nearby that Paulk could have chosen to go to
the bathroom - like an enormous coffee shop right across
the street, and the Barcelo hotel literally next door - rather
than a small hole-in-the-wall bar, that frankly, to me at least,
has always looked kind of scary. (And Paulk ain’t exactly the
butchest guy you’ve seen - you can catch his picture here:
http://www.family.org/resources/itempg.cfm?itemid=1010&sid=0&pid=0
In the end, “Pee-gate” came about because some smart HRC
staffers were on the ball in the right place at the right
time. “It was not the night I was expecting to have, or
wanted to have,” HRC’s Herrschaft told me. “This guy [Paulk]
has made a cottage industry out of preying on people’s
insecurities. I felt I had to do my part to expose this man
for who he is.”
Atta boy, HRC.
Some of Paulk’s quotes about homosexuality, from Focus on the
Family’s Web site:
“Homosexuality is a lonely and disillusioning way of life. There
is a reason why this behavior has been considered morally wrong
throughout most of human history. Can you think of any other form
of immorality which has been set aside for a month of celebration
by an American president? How indicative of his character and our
depravity as a nation.”
“To those of you who are parents, I say, “Be aware!” Your
children are being inundated with inaccurate - but enticing -
messages about homosexuality. Television, movies, music and
an increasing number of public schools constantly reinforce
the idea that “gay is good.” Monitor the influences your
children are receiving, and address the subject of homosexuality
directly with them.”
“It’s an honor to be a role model for those struggling to
leave homosexuality behind,” says Paulk. "My wife and I, and
thousands of others, serve as living proof that change is
possible. By taking a bold stand against the lies that say
homosexuality is biological and unchangeable, we hope to
encourage others desperate to escape homosexuality.
“The gay activist agenda, which includes ‘National Coming Out
Day,’ is promoted heavily by Hollywood and the media. Focus
on the Family believes that ‘National Coming Out of
Homosexuality Day’ is crucial in order to provide the
American public with the other side of the issue.”
“Primarily, our concern centers on the destructive messages
being sent to today’s youth. Millions of young people
struggling with a variety of issues are being encouraged to
‘come out’ as a solution to their problems. Our goal is to
point teens, their parents and teachers in another direction-
-that of an achievable, healthy, normal heterosexual
identity,” says Paulk."
“We believe that a young person struggling with homosexual
tendencies should also be informed of healthy alternatives to
homosexuality,” says Paulk. “It is irresponsible for
educators to steer that person into a potentially dangerous
and lonely lifestyle.”
