Via The Arkansas Leader:
You may recall the trial in 2004 in Pulaski County in which some people challenged a rule adopted by Gov. Mike Huckabee’s administration that no household with a gay or lesbian in its midst could raise foster children or adopt children. The government brought in George Rekers, a Baptist minister and a teacher at a South Carolina Christian college, as its expert witness to explain the harm to children from being in a house with a homosexual. Rekers was a founder with James Dobson of the Family Research Council, which leads the national anti-gay campaign.
The Arkansas judge, Timothy Fox, said Rekers’ testimony was worthless as evidence because it was only his personal view. The Arkansas Supreme Court concluded later that Rekers’ testimony was pointless and it declared Huckabee’s anti-gay rule unconstitutional. Rekers testifies as a scientific expert for states that adopt anti-gay laws. The states lose, but Rekers always takes in big fees. Rekers is supposed to be an expert in “conversion therapy,†the process of “curing†homosexuality.
Rekers upset his sponsors in Arkansas after the trial by demanding $200,000 for his expert services, which was more than Gov. Huckabee wanted to pay him. Rekers subsequently sued the state for $160,000 and eventually settled with the Department of Human Services. The taxpayers — that’s us — shelled out $60,000 to him for the privilege of being humiliated.
(Emphasis mine.)
You really can’t make this stuff up. Nor, with “Christian” “Conservatives,” do you have to.
Arkansas should sue Rekers to get their money back.
Read the piece in its entirety — it’s a good read and actually has more to do with the hypocrisy of the far right.