Rev. Dr. Rekers initially claimed that he had found out his rent boy from Rentboy.com was a rent boy only part-way through their European trip, and that his rent boy was solely for the purpose of luggage transportation.  When pressed on this point by Joe Jervis at Joe.My.God, Rev. Dr. Rekers then allowed as how he had rented his rent boy primarily to evangelize him.

This story is, of course, entertaining.  And horrifying.  And all too predictable.  Joe.My.God's ongoing account of the story in the past two days is particularly amusing and informative.  His latest posting notes that Rev. Dr. Rekers was paid $87,000 not too long back by the state of Florida to testify against adoption of children by same-sex couples.

To find the trail of the Rekers story at Joe.My.God, click on any of the following links beneath the posting to which I've just linked: "ex-gay," closet cases, hypocrisy, liars, religion, or self-loathing.

Florida is not the only state that has paid Rekers big bucks to spread hateful lies about gay people and gay families.  In 2004, Rev. Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas (and also an ordained Southern Baptist minister), brought Rev. Dr. Rekers to Arkansas to testify against gay adoption.  Rekers billed the state $200,000, of which the citizens of the state ended up paying $60,000.

It's a hard job, but somebody has to do it, spreading lies and making gay families miserable.  And those big chunks of taxpayer dollars--$87,000 and $60,000--can certainly buy a lot of European vacations.  And rent boys luggage carriers potential converts.  And as Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out notes, "It is clear that Rekers has baggage and certainly needs help."

P.S. Reckon "Robert Kumpel"'s right-wing Georgia Catholic blog St. John's Valdosta intends to do an update of this posting back in February touting the virtues of Rev. Dr. Rekers's "research" about gay adoption when said research was presented to an anti-gay adoption conference in Mexico City in February?