Not that this should even be news anymore. Scratch a zealot, find a pervert. Can't we just assume that anyone, anywhere, who is antigay-for-pay is also some kind of freak or offender behind closed doors?
Still makes me sad, though, that a couple of young men were allegedly traumatized by this high-profile moral swindler.
The prominent pastor of a 25,000-member megachurch outside Atlanta denies allegations in a lawsuit that he coerced two young men from the congregation into a sexual relationship, his attorney said.
Lawyers for the men, now 20 and 21, say they filed the lawsuit Tuesday in DeKalb County Court against Bishop Eddie Long. The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they were victims of sexual impropriety.
The men were 17- and 18-year-old members of Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, when they say Long abused his spiritual authority to seduce them with cars, money, clothes, jewelry, international trips and access to celebrities...
B.J. Bernstein, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said that when the relationships started, the plaintiffs were past the legal age of consent in Georgia, which is 16.
"Defendant Long has utilized his spiritual authority to coerce certain young male members ... into engaging in sexual acts and relationships for his own personal sexual gratification," the lawsuits read.
I hope these accusations prove to be untrue, but they follow an undeniable social pattern among moralizing, anti-gay right wingers--Ted Haggard, George Rekers, Larry Craig, Ken Mehlman, Michael Johnston, etc.
I'm also sad that this guy's church has so successfully used its connection to Dr. MLK Jr. (one of its right-wing pastors is MLK Jr's youngest daughter, Beatrice King) to undermine Dr. King and his wife Coretta's true position on gay rights, which was the belief that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
May justice be served in this case.
UPDATE! A third lawsuit has just been filed. Looks like this snowball is just starting to roll..