Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Jamiel Terry, the adopted son of Randall Terry, anti-abortion leader and same-sex marriage protester, has come out of the closet in OUT magazine. Randall Terry responded to this admission in an Op-Ed piece for The Washington Times. Here are some excerpts:

I love my son. He is incredibly gifted and articulate. He sings like an angel and plays the piano. He's a great cook and a great debater. I've poured 16 years of my life into him.

By age 8 had learned a lifestyle of deceit and been a victim of treacheries that would mar him for life.

The story states, "My father seems to believe that the fact that I'm an adopted child may help explain why I'm gay - not because of the adoption process itself but perhaps because of things that may have occurred before I was adopted at the age of 5." To gloss over the tragic events of his youth is deceit. Many homosexuals want to ignore the causes of their sexual behavior; they want us to believe it is genetic, not behavioral.

The story stated, "My father is still trying to get me to go to a three-month retreat to be 'delivered' from homosexuality." Not true. Jamiel has repeatedly asked me to pay for him to go to "Love in Action" (an in-patient program with great success with homosexuals). I'm happy to pay that tab.

Out magazine is despicable for exploiting my son for their political agenda. If my son is their latest "hero," I wonder how many of their leaders and trophies they portray as "model citizens" have lives that are this unraveled.

So, is the son unraveled because of his early youth and his homosexuality, or is he unraveled because his father believes his condition is behavioral (i.e. he's acting out) and that if he were sent to a retreat, the condition could be cured? I feel bad for Randall Terry that his son sold him out, but the fact is that his gay son had to grow up with a homophobe for a father. This is just a sad story for both of them. But I did enjoy Wonkette's take on it: "I Love My Son. I Love My Pre-Dead Gay Son."

Outing Out [WT via TMFTML]
A Rising Son [OUT via Wonkette]