After five gay
men met the notoriously antigay preacher at brunch in
Virginia—and posed with him for a photo featured in
the current issue of The Advocate—one of
them wrote this letter to send along with a copy of
the photo.
Mr. Pat
Robertson
977 Centerville Turnpike
Virginia Beach, VA 23463
Dear Mr.
Robertson:
By way of
introduction, my name is Andrew Brewer. I am formerly a
Biblical studies major and currently a vice president at a
major network here in New York City.
I am enclosing a
picture that we took together the other day--the day
before Easter--at [a restaurant at the country club] The
Homestead. You were very gracious in allowing us to
interrupt your afternoon to pose with us. Thank you so
much. After the picture you asked if we were a members
of a team or club, and I replied that we were all friends
from New York. We are all friends, but we do have more
than that in common…
You see, we are
all young men who, from the moment of birth, have always
known that we were sexually attracted to those of our own
gender. To a man, we have had to endure the long and
difficult process of admitting this truth to others
and ourselves. The reason why the road was so tough
for many of us was well-meaning but horribly misguided folks
who taught our parents and society in general that
homosexuality is “immoral”--a
“sickness” and a “sin.” Some of
us were even fooled into thinking that with enough
prayer and hard work we could change the way that we were
lovingly created--a process that brought misery to a few of
us.
Certainly, we
could discuss for hours what the Bible says and
doesn’t say about homosexuality, slavery, the
role of women, and other pertinent issues. I’m
sure we could also have exhaustive talks about the
definition of what the Bible is and the veracity of
what its contents. What we, as a group, would like for
you to consider this spring, however, is your own
relationship to Christ’s words.
On Easter weekend, five gay men sat near Pat Robertson at
brunch at a Virginia country club. When he agreed
to a photo, the notoriously antigay preacher
(above, in yellow shirt) became part of the rainbow with
(from left) Justin Croft, Orlan Boston, Jason
Davis, Andrew Brewer, and Erik Bottcher.
For example,
didn’t Christ--who was put to death by the government
working with the religious leaders of his time, in part
because of his inclusive teachings--basically say in
Luke, chapters 12 and 14: “No one of you can be
my disciple unless he sell all that he has, give it to the
poor, and come follow me?” This is just one of the
scores of lessons that Jesus, who said nothing of
homosexuality, preached in praise of poverty and
against wealth. Respectfully, how do you square these verses
with the multimillion-dollar enterprise that you have
created and the personal fortune that you have amassed
for yourself? The hypocrisy of using his name to
marginalize men like us--at times making our lives
excruciatingly difficult--while directly and blatantly
contradicting his very clear teachings is both bold
and unfathomable.
Perhaps the
universe or God brought us together that day before Easter
so that you might be prompted to really deeply
consider the fact that your rhetoric and your actions
have very real consequence. We know. Although we have
no doubt of your sincerity and well-meaning nature, we
represent those who are victims, in one way or
another, of the shaded truth you and others tell
perhaps to further your own ends. Perhaps it’s just
that you don’t know any better.
If you would like
to discuss further, I am certainly available to talk.
Thank you for you time and consideration.
Andrew Brewer
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