Tad Haggard is NOT gay, but his sexual identity is "complex" and there are "gray areas"...

[cynatnite]

Speaking out two years after being embroiled in a gay sex scandal, former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard said Friday his sexual identity is complex and can't be put into "stereotypical boxes," but that his relationship with his wife is stronger than ever.

snip:
"I think sexuality is confusing and complex," Haggard said. "I am totally completely satisfied with the relationship with my wife now, but I went through a wandering in the wilderness time, and I just thank God I'm on the other side of that."

Asked whether he could define his sexual identity, Haggard said: "The stereotypical boxes don't work for me. My story's got some gray areas in it. And, of course, I'm sad about that but it's the reality."

snip:
At the time the film was shot in 2007, Haggard described still occasionally struggling with same-sex attraction. Asked Friday whether those attractions remain, Haggard did not say definitively but said he was "not anywhere near" where he was at that time.

snip:
Haggard has said his childhood experiences, including same-sex "sex play" with friends when he was in the seventh grade, started to manifest themselves when he turned 50, a few months before the scandal. That conflicts with Jones' statement that Haggard paid him for sex for three years. Haggard on Friday declined to discuss the discrepancy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090110/ap_on_re/rel_haggard_comeback

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. This poor man

How long is he going to keep going public about what is now a private matter?

He's no longer preaching hate about other people, so I don't give a fig about him or who or what he wants to bang.

Just shut up and go away.

[mike_c]

12. that's his real problem, I suspect....

He doesn't want to "shut up and go away." He wants to be the guy in the pulpit, basking in the adoration of thousands, raking in the money, taking calls from presidents. That's what all this is really about. He will never be happy outside the lime-light.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

14. You got that right

Sarah Palin Syndrome.

They have no idea how OVER they are.

[rurallib]

2. to thine own self be true, Teddy

of course he's a lying sack of shit who can't face the truth so he hides behind the lies. Which in turn helps perpetuate those myths about GLBT that he espouses because they bring in huge bucks

[Myrina]

3. ... so the man is bisexual. He needs to admit it and move on.

:shrug: Seriously.

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. Gray areas, Ted?

You sure that r needs to be in there?

Still though, he is admitting that he's not completely heterosexual. That's a big step forward from "Jesus will cure me".

[originalpckelly]

5. Those gray areas include the homes of male prostitutes, bathroom stalls...

and the occasional locker room. And yes, I'm gay. I even live in Colorado, and one day I'll probably run into Haggard at a gay bar, then I'll ask if that's a gray area too.

[TNOE]

6. That's the thing about these guys though

he's wanting to be "redeemed" so he can get back into the money game - and be showered with adoration and love from his "flock".

[originalpckelly]

7. I wonder how many of the flock he flocked?

:evilgrin:

I remember watching some of those videos, and I'm certain a whole bunch of them were on their knees "praying" with Haggard.

[AndyA]

8. Um, Ted. I live in Tulsa. I lived here when you went to ORU.

Is it really necessary for you to continue this line of bullshit? :shrug:

[Deja Q]

9. Sorry, Haggy. It may be complex. But when you marry/union, you don't break your promises.

No more rationalizing it, Ted. You cheated. You broke your marital promise.

You may have said at some point you're not gay or said anyone BGLT is a child molester or whatever**. Not only did you break your promise to your partnered spouse (which is so utterly disrespectful of the one you were with that you are a degenerate, devolved pig), you're now in the same group of people you claim fondle children, et cetera... let's have some fun if ** turns out to be correct: Have you, Mr Haggard, molested children? Sorry to accuse. But I don't like you. I don't like those who cheat and there's rarely a justifiable reason to do so (though I'll always listen... which is more than what some would do.)



** I haven't read up on your past since the shocking scandal when you were caught tinkering with some guy's tinkler... I don't care to. The present is at hand. And that's far more damning.

[nichomachus]

10. Then he is cured -- two years ago, he would not have said "gray areas"

He would have said "autumn pearl" areas.

[dsc]

11. Part of me feels sorry for him

It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to please society and that is what happened to him. He wound up hurting himself, his family, his church, and society all because he just couldn't face telling those he loved he wasn't what they thought he was. Honestly a shame.

[gratuitous]

13. I'm in that corner, too

The incredible conflict between what Haggard "knows" God wants of him versus what he knows in the deepest recesses of his being has to torture this guy far more than any snarky comments I could make. I've talked with and read about so many persons who struggled with this for years, and not always successfully, it just breaks my heart. Who knows what sort of person will emerge out of the other end of this process? But yeah, Haggard should get out of the public eye until he comes to terms with himself.