A leading
evangelist and outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage has
given up his post as president of the National Association
of Evangelicals while a church panel investigates
allegations he paid a man for sex. On Thursday the
Reverend Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30
million-member "para-church organization" and also
gave up leadership of the 14,000-member New Life
Church in Colorado Springs pending the investigation
into allegations he had monthly trysts with a gay
prostitute over the past three years.
The allegations
surfaced as voters in Colorado and seven other U.S.
states get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning
same-sex marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the
Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish
the legality of domestic partnerships providing
same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.
Haggard, a
married father of five, denied the allegations, but the
acting pastor of his church later said that Haggard
had acknowledged some of the accusations were true.
''I just know that there has been some admission of
indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that has
been discussed, but there is an admission of some
guilt,'' Ross Parsley told KKTV-TV of Colorado
Springs.
Parlsey did not
elaborate, but in an e-mail addressed to congregants, he
wrote that the church's four-member board of overseers had
since met with Haggard. ''It is important for you to
know that he confessed to the overseers that some of
the accusations against him are true. He has willingly
and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of
overseers and will remain on administrative leave
during the course of the investigation,'' the e-mail
stated. A copy was obtained by KMGH-TV in Denver.
Late Wednesday
Haggard told KUSA-TV, ''I've never had a gay relationship
with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife. I'm faithful to
my wife.''
Members of
Haggard's 14,000-member megachurch were stunned. ''It's
political, right before the elections,'' said Brian Boals, a
New Life member for 17 years.
Church member
E.J. Cox, 25, called the claims ''ridiculous.'' ''People
are always saying stuff about Pastor Ted,'' she said. ''You
just sort of blow it off. He's just like anyone else
in the public eye.''
The accusations
were made by Mike Jones, 49, of Denver, who said he
decided to go public because of the political fight over the
amendments. ''I just want people to step back and take
a look and say, 'Look, we're all sinners, we all have
faults, but if two people want to get married, just
let them--and let them have a happy life,''' said
Jones, who added that he isn't working for any
political group.
Jones, who said
he is gay, said he was also upset when he discovered
Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed
same-sex marriage. ''It made me angry that here's
someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind
the scenes having gay sex,'' he said.
Jones claimed
Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three
years. He said he advertised himself as an escort on the
Internet and was contacted by a man who called himself
Art, who snorted methamphetamine before their sexual
encounters to heighten his experience.
Jones said he
later saw the man on television identified as Haggard and
that the two last had sex in August.
He said he has
voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope
he said Haggard used to mail him cash. He declined to make
the voice mails available to the AP, but KUSA-TV
reported what it said were excerpts late Thursday that
referred to methamphetamine. ''Hi, Mike, this is
Art,'' one call began, according to the station. ''Hey, I
was just calling to see if we could get any
more--either $100 or $200 supply.''
A second message,
left a few hours later, began: ''Hi, Mike, this is Art.
I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I
said, if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then
that would be great. And I'll get it sometime next
week or the week after or whenever.''
Haggard, 50, was
appointed president of the evangelicals association in
March 2003. He has participated in conservative Christian
leaders' conference calls with White House staffers
and lobbied members of Congress last year on U.S.
Supreme Court appointees after Sandra Day O'Connor
announced her retirement.
After
Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, Haggard
and others began organizing state-by-state opposition.
Last year, Haggard and officials from the nearby
Christian ministry Focus on the Family announced plans
to push Colorado's same-sex marriage ban for the 2006
ballot.
At the time,
Haggard said that he believed marriage is a union between a
man and woman rooted in centuries of tradition, and that
research shows it's the best family unit for children.
(AP)
Look for an exclusive Advocate interview with
Mike Jones on Advocate.com.
