Christian Activist's Son Says He Is Gay

[True_Blue]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. April 22 — The son of Christian activist Randall Terry, known for his strident opposition to abortion and homosexuality, says he is gay. In an article in the May issue of Out magazine for which he was paid $2,500 Jamiel Terry, 24, says he first realized he was gay seven years ago, when a male friend with whom he'd been intimate asked if they were gay or bisexual.

"I didn't know how to respond," he writes. "I mean, we had been having sex for ages, but I'd always believed I couldn't be gay: I was the son of Randall Terry, a major leader of the Christian right's anti-abortion movement and now a leader in the fight against marriage for same-sex couples."

Before the Out article was released, Randall Terry published his own essay, "My prodigal son, the homosexual," on several Internet sites, including RandallTerry.com, writing his son "sold out our family's privacy and private discussions for cold cash."

The younger Terry told The Washington Post his father drove from Florida to Charlotte, where the son lives, to speak with him about the first-person magazine story and to ask why he had not told the elder Terry about it.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040422_2328.html

[jcldragon]

1. ....

"He who troubleth his own house, shall inherit the wind..."

[0007]

3. Could 'ya break that down a little bit? And tell me if your talking

of the "Wind of Scorn" -

Perhaps a feeling of superiority mingled with aversion is indeed in the troubled house, huh?

Cuz it sure isn't clean to me! But what do I know?

[PinkTiger]

4. Inherit the wind means

That your family is your inheritance; if you destroy that, you end up with nothing. It is a proverb.

[Must_B_Free]

11. it means of you fart

it'll go up your own nose.

[0007]

31. No wonder most folks don't understand the bible.

[mistertrickster]

21. I agree . . . for when I breaketh wind, I troubleth the whole house . . .

Yea, verily . . .

[notadmblnd]

26. I know it's not right but.....

Never hold your farts in.....
they travel up your spine, into your brain,
and that's how you get shitty ideas

[frankly_fedup2]

27. You may not believe this; however,

if you do not pass the gas . . . then you have shit for brains. No really, I worked for a radiologist, and you can get gas around the brain. It shows up on x-rays . . . no joke.

[Bandit]

28. No Joke ~ LOL

ROTFLMAO :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[phoebe]

2. who knows, maybe Mr. Terry will see the error of his ways.

Jamiel Terry is to be commended. It can't have been easy to reveal such a thing to his father. His father should show him some respect at the very least.

[physioex]

5. Saw the CNN news story and interview.....

Glad to see he has a gay son. My understanding is that he told him that he would get AIDS and die. They don't talk to each other anymore. Don't count on Randall changing........

[Ilsa]

29. I heard a "Christian" woman say this about her dead brother.

"Well, if he hadn't done those things that are an abomination to God, he wouldn't have gotten sick and died." Absolutely passionless. I think she hated him for being gay.

[Guy Fawkes]

6. You never know....

I don't know if Terry Sr. will come around, but I bet he'll wish he had, if he doesn't.

[yellowcanine]

7. Randall Terry's latest cause is crusading against

gay marriage, presumably because it threatens the "sanctity of marriage." Pretty rich for a guy who dumped his wife for a younger woman.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Here's his dad, having a moment of prayer

You may remember seeing groups of brain-dead white people crawling around on the ground near family planning services, apparently imitating babies, or something. That's Randall Terry's group, "Operation Rescue.

Right-wing Christian fundamentalist groups such as Operation Rescue, Project Rescue, Rescue America and Missionaries to the Preborn have responded to the weakening of their political position by a shift in tactics, from clinic protests and letter-writing campaigns to a campaign of terror, targeted primarily at the dwindling number of doctors who are prepared to carry out pregnancy terminations.

“We've found that the weak link is the doctor”, said Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, at an anti-abortion rally held in Melbourne, Florida, on the weekend before the slaying of David Gunn. “We're going to expose them, we're going to humiliate them”, he told the receptive crowd.
(snip)

The inactivity of the authorities has persisted despite some fairly obvious pointers to the source of violence against medical practitioners. For example “Wanted” posters with Gunn's photograph and home phone number were distributed at an Operation Rescue rally in Montgomery, Alabama, last year.
(snip)

Randall Terry, of Operation Rescue, told the press that his organisation felt that it is wrong to kill, but “we have to recognise that this doctor was a mass murderer”.
(snip)

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1993/94/94p28.htm



"We want individual freedoms. We want the government to stay
out of our lives, except that we want the government to prohibit
acts of wickedness." - Randall Terry, founder of "Operation Rescue"
(on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air", July 30, 1993)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now it's going to get tricky, when Topeka's Fred Phelp's has to schlep over to Randall Terry's house to protest Terry's son!



Phelps

Fred Phelps's own son, Terry.

[DemoTex]

9. My father, a tolerant 84-yo retired professor confronted my gay brother ..

You might remember my postings a few months ago about all the news in Atlanta about the Druid Hills Country Club flap. It mainly involved my brother's partner, a lawyer, who is a long-time member of the DHCC. It made the AJC and most other Atlanta news outlets for a week or so. I mean saturation bombings! We bit our nails for weeks wondering if our parents saw the news stories (the long version would take pages to tell!).

My brother, a medical doctor, has been "out" with most people for several years. We absolutely love his partner (who is a big gay/human rights activist/lawyer in ATL and both are BIG Democratic donors - I looked it up, thank you!). They also donate big to their own cause. Big house in Atlanta, great beach house on the Gulf Coast. Glad for it. I get to use the beach house from time-to-time, and my dogs are welcome too.

Two weeks ago my brother drove down to my parents (40 miles south of ATL) for Sunday brunch. Sitting at the table my dad asked, out of the blue: So, what's the resolution of the problem at the Druid Hills Country Club?. My brother choked on his tomato aspic. Cat's out of the bag. Has been. Of course they knew. Not from the news either. Dad's a PhD and my mother a MA. Old, but not dummies.

HERE IS THE CLINCHER! Dad said to my brother: "We have wondered, for a while, about your relationship with N__. We are glad you did not tell us early-on that you are gay, because we have come to love him so, it is much easier to accept your gayness now." So embraced. Great dad.

[Mel]

13. thanks for sharing that story

(The Clincher!) made me feel good! Sometimes hope for good to win seems impossible. You do have a great dad!

[Merlin]

15. Demo Tex, this is a wonderful story. Needs much wider exposure.

I'm wondering if you could write this up for a magazine that might appreciate it. Even if it's short, it could be terrific. I dunno, maybe a womens' mag. Maybe an LTTE to Time or Newsweek in response ot one of their articles. It's a terrific example of how to be. Congratulations on having terrific parents.

[DemoTex]

16. Actually, I am working on a story about it.

Hard time with the POV though. Dad's (who just recently figured it out), mine (I have known for several years), or my brother's (has been gay for years). Writer's problem, though. Been there, done that. Often! Thanks for the encouragement, Merlin.

[cardlaw]

18. Not a huge deal...

but your brother has been gay all his life, not just "for years." Maybe you mean he's been out for a few years.

[Merlin]

23. Sounds great. Hope you'll post a copy!

Good luck on it. I know it'll be terrific. You've got a real flair.

[NashVegas]

10. Oh, the Irony

Randall Terry grew up in the heart of suffragette country, and IIRC, was raised by feminists.

Looks like the family is going full circle.

[Domitan]

12. Karma is a bitch

and I utterly love it. People like Randall Terry sorely need this experience.

[Chovexani]

14. Isn't that always the way, though?

Chris Rock said it best...whoever you hate will end up in your family, so there's no point in hating.

So many fundies & assorted right wing nut jobs have gay kids. Phyllis Schafly of Eagle Forum infamy has a gay son too. Jerry Falwell has an out gay cousin. And let's not forget Candice Gingrich and Mary Cheney.

Funny how the Goddess works sometimes.

[Ilsa]

30. If only Pat Robertson's, Franklin Graham's, etc kids would announce

they are converts to Islam. Especially Graham's sister, who went out after 9-11 saying America deserved it because of the homosexuals.

[bobbieinok]

32. did Laura Ingraham say she has a brother/cousin who is gay??

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

17. Bwwwhaaaaa! I guess your son's going to Hell now.

Friggin' hypocrit. Now, let's see how your black-n-white view of the world can accommidate the fact that your beloved son is GAY.

JB

[Redleg]

19. LOL.

Although I do feel sorry for Terry's son, who has to put up with his dad's homophobia.

[schultzee]

20. Terry will regret not accepting his child if his son dies before they

have closure. How terrible for a father to reject his child because of something the son acquired through genetics.

[jdunn]

22. Glad he's out, but... what about the rest?

<blockquote>"I mean, we had been having sex for ages, but I'd always believed I couldn't be gay: I was the son of Randall Terry, a major leader of the Christian right's anti-abortion movement and now a leader in the fight against marriage for same-sex couples."</blockquote>
Do you think he means the fact of his homosexuality was untenable due to his father's pathological gay-hating, or is he talking about realizing he had been living in denial when he was obviously an active homosexual. It could be read both ways, but I read it as the latter... though we all deceive ourselves one way or another, there are many prominent figures on the right who suffer from this kind of impasse; a brick wall between action and (self-)analysis. It must be lonely when you're that fucking lost.

[Piperay]

24. Interesting how many of these intolerant bigoted

hate mongers end up having children that turn out to be gay, hmmmmm. :shrug:

[Dr Fate]

25. Who knows- perhaps the father will change and accept his son?

Benifit of the doubt, I know...

[Cocoa]

33. the amazing power of denial

"hey, does this make us gay?" :-)