Fineout: McCollum personally urged hiring anti-gay activist – Central Florida Political Pulse – Orlando Sentinel
From reporter Gary Fineout?s Web site, the Florida Tribune:
Attorney General Bill McCollum personally urged that the state hire George Rekers, the anti-gay psychologist whose recent European trip with a gay male escort has exploded into a furious media frenzy since it was first reported last week.
Rekers was paid more than $120,000 to help with the state?s defense of a more than 30-year old ban on gay adoption.
McCollum said on Monday that he ?wouldn?t do it again? had he known more about Rekers, whose trip was first reported by the Miami New Times.
?We?ve been defending the constitutionality of the state law and we?ve been representing the Department of Children and Families, who hired him and paid him and needed expert witnesses and he was available and credentialed,?? said McCollum.?I wouldn?t do it again if I knew what I knew today but I didn?t know that then and neither did anybody else.??
Replies
6
Beach Fanatic
A great example of how one's own personal hypocracy can actually hurt the masses. Me thinks the "anti-gay psychologist" needs some advanced courses!
SoWal Insider
This thread's title seems rather inapropriate based on the subject matter.
SoWal Expert
He hired someone with good credentials and experience. 
The fact that it was yet another "anti-gay" person who was gay isn't a reflection on McCollum, but the complex psychology (how appropriate) of being gay in this country.
The fact that it was yet another "anti-gay" person who was gay isn't a reflection on McCollum, but the complex psychology (how appropriate) of being gay in this country.
SoWal InsiderAuthor
This thread's title seems rather inapropriate based on the subject matter.120k of state money? innapropriate?
SoWal InsiderAuthor
Truth Wins Out - Bill McCollum’s Political Prostitution Is The Real Story In Rent Boy Saga Rekers was paid a $60,900 retainer in Florida. He also received a $59,793 payment for hourly billing, according to the Department of Children and Families, for 402 hours at about $150 per hour. The payments were made by the office of the Florida attorney general, Bill McCollum, which was defending the DCF?s policy in court.
Rekers, an officer of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, testified in 2008 that LGBT people have a higher likelihood of depression, drug addiction and failed relationships. He claimed these ailments made them unfit parents who could not provide stable homes for children. Of course now we all know that Rekers thinks its okay to rent boys, not raise them.
What McCollum got for the loot was pure lies at the expense of tax payers. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman found that Rekers testimony was ?motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy.?
Of course, McCollum, a Republican who is now running for Florida governor as a ?fiscal conservative? had to have known that he was wasting public money. Rekers had already testified in Arizona against gay foster parents. But the judge called his testimony ?extremely suspect and of little, if any, assistance to the court.?
Rekers also testified on behalf of the state of Arkansas. A two-year legal battle followed after Rekers billed the state for $165,000, more than the state wanted to pay. The case concluded with Rekers receiving a $60,000 settlement, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
In an Orlando Sentinel article, ?Big Spending Bill? admitted that he hired Rekers because he could not find a credible mental health expert to testify in favor of the ban.
Rekers, an officer of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, testified in 2008 that LGBT people have a higher likelihood of depression, drug addiction and failed relationships. He claimed these ailments made them unfit parents who could not provide stable homes for children. Of course now we all know that Rekers thinks its okay to rent boys, not raise them.
What McCollum got for the loot was pure lies at the expense of tax payers. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman found that Rekers testimony was ?motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy.?
Of course, McCollum, a Republican who is now running for Florida governor as a ?fiscal conservative? had to have known that he was wasting public money. Rekers had already testified in Arizona against gay foster parents. But the judge called his testimony ?extremely suspect and of little, if any, assistance to the court.?
Rekers also testified on behalf of the state of Arkansas. A two-year legal battle followed after Rekers billed the state for $165,000, more than the state wanted to pay. The case concluded with Rekers receiving a $60,000 settlement, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
In an Orlando Sentinel article, ?Big Spending Bill? admitted that he hired Rekers because he could not find a credible mental health expert to testify in favor of the ban.
SoWal InsiderAuthor
He hired someone with good credentials and experience.quite the contrary, this waste of taxpayer money is demonstrative of mccollum's theocratic leanings.
The fact that it was yet another "anti-gay" person who was gay isn't a reflection on McCollum, but the complex psychology (how appropriate) of being gay in this country.
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