More hypocrisy and denial

Now that Rev. Ted Haggard has been outed by a former male paymate, we can all give a sigh of relief. The Foley scandal was not an aberration in the Republican Party or the Religious Right. Hypocrisy, as many of us have long known, is an equal-opportunity indulgence.

But the saddest thing about these two stories is how many people --- millions, in the case of Haggard --- listened to the hypocrisy and absorbed it deep under the skin. Comments like coming to terms with his “repulsive” side show how dysfunctional the repression of a subculture can render a whole society. The self-loathing Haggard has been an instructor on how to demonize gays, based on his own secret life. If it weren’t such a tired old scene out of movies like the “The Children’s Hour,” where one is compelled to perform self-correction because self-acceptance is so far out of reach, it would be funny.

How many gay men and women sat in Haggard’s church or listened to his sermons came to the conclusion that they were not worthy? Is it any wonder that Gay Pride parades in almost every city in America include legions of recovering addicts, teens who managed to survive suicidal thoughts, and adults rejected by their own parents and siblings?

The Republican Party has embraced a philosophy of separate and not equal in dealing with gay America. Being gay is not a tragic drama, but to sit at the same table for jobs, housing, and social acceptance, many gays still live double lives, some of which turn tragic. Haggard first said he paid for drugs and massages from a male prostitute but didn’t use the drugs and never got the massages. Dude, c’mon. We were supposed to believe you’re just a buyer?

Haggard still desperately wants to sit at the same table.

Let’s pray he’s learns how to pull up a chair for others.

--- Tim Louis Macaluso