I have to wonder what Randall Terry, founder of the infamous Operation Rescue, thought when his son told the world this week that he’s gay.

It’s hard to point to one moment when you begin to come out to yourself, but if I had to, I’d go back to a night seven years ago, when I was 17. I was home from boarding school in my old bedroom at my parents’ house in Windsor, N.Y., where my friend “Johnny” and I had just finished fooling around. Suddenly he asked me, “Do you think we are bisexual or gay?” The question so stunned me, I didn’t know how to respond. 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 antiabortion movement and now a leader in the fight against marriage for same-sex couples. I’m 24 now and I’m still figuring out my own story.

I guess it goes without saying that this didn’t sit too well with Randall, world-renowned for labelling family planning counselors and abortion doctors as “baby killers.” (He’s recently made it to the forefront again, lobbying for Bush’s constitutional amendment against gay marriage.)

True to form, he has repudiated his son in no uncertain terms via the world’s most reactionary news syndicate.

I am still in a state of shock; I have been grieving for days. My son, Jamiel Terry, was paid $5,000 by Out magazine (to appear April 20, 2004, on newsstands) to write a story about being Randall Terry’s homosexual son. I pray my following words help other grieving parents and serve as a warning to moms and dads of small children to be unflinchingly and unashamedly diligent to protect their children from predators, and bring a reality check to those exploiting my son.

So right off the bat, he tells us his son was bribed, paid to write the coming out article by predators who are exploiting the young man. Gays are villains who brought about this dastardly act of exploitation. They are so dangeous, in fact, it is imperative you guard your children against them. (Personally, i suspect his son was thrilled to write the piece, and not motivated only by money.)

Randall Terry’s article is a long whine, and a rather patheitc effort to distance himself from his son and make one overriding point — that it’s not his fault that his foster son ended up gay. It’s shrewd. It tries to sound compassionate, but its intent is to lay blame on others and make it perfectly clear he had nothing to do with his son’s situation.

In the closing lines, he lets it all hang out, shamelessly telling the whole world that his son is nothing but a scoundrel and a bum. I have to say, I’ve never before seen a father write such things about his child, adopted or otherwise.

My son is being paraded around as the latest homosexual “trophy” that had the guts to “come out.” What they aren’t telling you – and this grieves me to my core – is that by anyone’s standard – homosexual or heterosexual – my son’s life is in shambles. He was recently arrested for DWI; he is knowingly writing bad checks on a closed bank account; he dropped out of school; he doesn’t have a job (and refuses to get one); he bounces from house to house living off other people; he’s racked-up huge bills for friends and family that he cannot pay; he’s been taken to court by former friends to get him to pay money he owed them; he’s lied to his friends, telling them his “famous dad” was going to send him money to pay for his debts (I get calls or e-mails from college friends looking for money); he has “borrowed” money from countless numbers of my friends; he has a trail of wrecked friendships and family relationships because of deceit, money fraud and crossed boundaries….

This is an odd and disturbing story. I see it as confirmation that Randall Terry is the sack of shit I always thought he was, and that his messages of love and compassion are just window dressing for a man motivated by anger and hatred. He’s hit a new low — something I didn’t think was possible.

Links are via Wonkette, who should be read daily.

Excellent follow-up links here and here.