Os pastores mais homófobos muitas vezes acabam sendo expostos como gays.
The Strange Link Between Homophobia and Hidden Desire
Why So Many Anti-Gay Preachers End Up in Gay Scandals
Dan Foster 28 Sep 2025
The single most homophobic person I ever met was the pastor at my old church. Back in 2017, when my country was looking to legalize same-sex unions, all citizens were called upon to vote in a compulsory plebiscite either for or against changing the legal definition of marriage to include the LGBTQ community.
In the lead-up to this vote, my old pastor went on a one-person political stampede warning anyone who would listen of the apparent dangers of allowing two people of the same gender who happen to love each other to join together in (un)holy matrimony.
He would email anti-gay propaganda to everyone in the church and proclaim from the pulpit: “This is a slippery slope,” insinuating that before long, the radical left would be pushing to legalize polygamy, polyamory, marriage between adults and children, adults and animals, adults and trees. “There is no end to the evil that will befall us if we don’t take a stand!” It was really quite remarkable how long he drew his bow. And by delivering a steady diet of fear, he implored his faithful followers, “Stay on God’s side!”
Many of them did, at least in their own opinions.
Of course, the vote fell in favor of same-sex marriage, and the rest is history. Life went on. God didn’t rain down fire from Heaven. And eight years on, nothing much changed in our society, save for the fact we all became much more accepting of difference. No one is marrying children, animals, or trees.
What struck me about this old pastor was just how real his fear was and how loud he was with his objections to same-sex marriage. I have this image in my mind’s eye of him slumped in his leather-bound swivel chair — solemn, subdued, head bowed — when the results of the vote were announced. You could have been mistaken for thinking his wife had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer by the way he reacted.
He grieved.
Sadly, way too many men in the church have chosen this hill to die on. Despite Jesus’s silence on the matter, they feel that they must raise their voice against the LGBTQ community. But, the most troubling scenario of all, one that is surprisingly more prevalent than you might think, is when one of these anti-gay warriors ends up being outed themselves.
When anti-gay warriors are busted
My exploration of this theme started when I read heard the story of a catholic priest named Jeffrey Burrill. Burrill was a powerful anti-LGBTQ voice who served as general secretary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. This group vigorously advocated in Congress to eliminate a proposed national suicide hotline due to its specific focus on providing assistance to LGBTQ individuals who are experiencing suicidal ideation.
Burrill played a key role in carrying out the Catholic Church’s anti-LGBTQ agenda. He supported programs such as Courage — an official Catholic organization that frames homosexuality as a form of mental illness and promotes so-called “conversion therapy.” This practice has been widely discredited and condemned by every major mental health association worldwide as deeply harmful.
However, Burrill’s anti-LGTBQ charade all fell apart when it was discovered that he had been using Grindr, a gay sex app, practically every day for years. Moreover, Burrill was a regular visitor to gay bars and would frequent The Entourage in Las Vegas, an upscale bathhouse where wealthy gay men meet for casual sex.
That’s right.
Jeffrey Burrill, the highest-ranking Catholic priest in the United States who is not a bishop, had been having sex with men for years… regularly, on purpose… while simultaneously undermining the rites of the LGBTIQ community and programs that support them.
And Burrill isn’t the only one. In fact, his story fits a long and embarrassing pattern.
Introducing Haggard’s Law
Ted Haggard was an American evangelical pastor who served as President of the National Association of Evangelicals. Haggard was a staunch defender of traditional marriage. In 2006, Haggard and his church supported Colorado Amendment 43 to the Colorado Constitution: “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.” Haggard once said, “We don’t have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity. It’s written in the Bible.”
So, you can imagine how surprised everybody was when a male prostitute and masseur named Mike Jones alleged that Haggard had paid him for sex for three years. After initially denying the allegations, Haggard would later admit to using drugs and participating in sexual activity with both Jones and another man who attended his church.
The Haggard scandal led satirists to develop what became known as “Haggard’s Law.” The Urban Dictionary defines it thus: “The likelihood of a person harboring secret desires to engage in sexual and/or romantic activities with members of the same sex is directly proportional to the frequency and volume of said person’s vocalized objections to homosexuality.”
Or, to put it another way: the more vehemently someone protests against same-sex attraction, the higher the odds that they themselves are closeted homosexuals. It’s like the universe’s little inside joke, playing a game of hide-and-seek with their true desires. Yes, Haggard’s Law says, if you ever encounter an exceptionally vocal anti-gay crusader, give them a knowing wink and a nudge because chances are they’re just one glittery step away from joining the fabulous rainbow club.
Now, it should be noted straight up that there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support Haggard’s Law. Well… all except for this one particular study.
A Curious Correlation
So, this is merely an interesting sidetrack.
In 1996, a group of willing scientists decided to ask: Is homophobia linked to suppressed homosexual desire? Sixty-four men who self-reported as heterosexual were selected for a study to find the answer. Firstly, all the men completed a survey about their attitudes towards homosexuality and were thus split into two groups: “homophobic” and “non-homophobic.” According to the research:
“Men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and female homosexual videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored.”
The results?
“Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. But only homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli.”
In other words, only the homophobes were more likely to become aroused by homosexual content.
However, before you triumphantly shout, “Aha! I knew it!” the study results proved inconclusive. Why? Because as the researchers pointed out, the measured arousal could have been simply a byproduct of anxiety. I don’t understand how having your penis measured by scientists while you watch pornographic material could possibly make you anxious??!
Anyway, the authors of the study were quick to point out:
“It is possible that viewing homosexual stimuli causes negative emotions such as anxiety in homophobic men but not in non-homophobic men. Because anxiety has been shown to enhance arousal and erection, this theory would predict increases in erection in homophobic men.”
The Hall of Shame
So, should Haggard’s Law be taken merely as an ironic term, or is there some truth behind it? Well, when you read through the Hall of Fame — or perhaps I should call it the Hall of Shame — of hardcore anti-LGBTQ Christians who ended up being exposed as homosexuals themselves, it doesn’t bode well for the former. Here’s the list I found:
Bob Allen
Bob Allen was an anti-gay politician from Florida who sponsored a failed bill to outlaw homosexual acts. Later he was convicted of solicitation after offering twenty bucks to perform oral sex on a male undercover police officer.
Alan Chambers
Alan Chambers was the mastermind who spearheaded the establishment of Exodus International, a globally renowned ministry infamous for its ambitious mission of gay conversion therapy. You can find his full story in the Netflix Documentary “Pray Away.” After realizing the damage that his organization was causing, he shut it down and apologized.
As fate would have it, he eventually stepped out from behind the curtain and outed himself.
Ernest Angley
Ernest Angley was a flamboyant televangelist extraordinaire who fearlessly waved his finger, proclaiming homosexuality as the ultimate sin. But lo and behold, one of his former male employees stepped up to the plate, slapping Angley with a lawsuit for alleged sexual abuse. And just when you thought the drama couldn’t get any juicier, a magical tape surfaced, capturing Angley unabashedly confessing to the very same taboo homosexual encounter he once so vehemently condemned.
Roy Ashburn
Roy Ashburn was a Californian anti-gay politician who made a sport out of voting against any gay rights bill that dared to cross his path. But Ashburn found himself busted while driving under the influence, with none other than a man he had picked up from a gay bar by his side. Tongues wagged, speculating whether the esteemed lawmaker might just be… wait for it… gay himself!
And to top it all off, in a desperate attempt to save face, Ashburn boldly claimed during an interview that he is indeed gay but had voted against gay rights bills out of some twisted sense of duty to his constituents.
Really, Roy?
Bob Bauman
Congressman Bob Bauman was a staunch conservative who supported bills allowing discrimination against the LGBTQ community. He vociferously fought against equality, only to find himself caught up in a scandal of precisely the kind he had railed against.
Smack bang in the middle of his re-election campaign in 1980, Bauman was charged with soliciting the services of a 16-year-old male prostitute. Needless to say, Bob’s bid for re-election went up in flames.
Eddie Long
Eddie Long was an American pastor who served at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a 25,000-member megachurch in Atlanta. Long was unashamedly anti-LGBTQ. In fact, In a fiery 2007 article featured in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine, he was hailed as a true titan of homophobia, earning him the prestigious title of “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”
However, in 2010, four different men alleged that Long had used his pastoral influence to coerce them into sexual relationships with them. These complaints, however, we settled out of court. The terms of these settlements were undisclosed.
David Matheson
David Matheson was the Mormon maestro of conversion therapy and an advocate of “celibacy as a solution.” For decades, Matheson dedicated himself to the “noble” cause of guiding gay folks away from the treacherous path of same-sex desires.
However, after the gay rights group Truth Wins Out leaked private Facebook conversations where Matheson admitted to divorcing his wife and looking for a relationship with another man, he burst out of the closet.
Barry Poyner
Barry Poyner, illustrious church leader, and esteemed university professor, was yet another anti-gay crusader who ended up taking a detour down the digital highway of Grindr. He allegedly attempted to win over an unsuspecting 18-year-old gentleman using gift cards and gas money as bait.
George Rekers
George Rekers was a Southern Baptist minister who wrote numerous books about the evils of homosexuality, including the aptly titled “Growing Up Straight — What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.”
While he wagged his finger at the LGBTQ+ community, proclaiming their unsuitability for raising children, Rekers found solace in a cozy affiliation with Dr. James Dobson and the Family Research Council.
However, when Rekers was spotted sauntering through Miami airport’s bustling corridors, accompanied by none other than a young Hispanic gentleman employed through an escort service, the cat was out of the bag. Rekers argued that his male escort had been hired simply “to carry his bags.” The escort, however, said Rekers had paid him to provide nude massages daily.
The moral of the immoral story
It makes for troubling reading, doesn’t it? What’s even more disturbing is that this is just a tiny sample from the list of men I found who were once loud and proud anti-LGBTQ warriors who were later caught in some homosexual act.
The problem is not that these men were harboring same-sex attraction. It’s that they were openly condemning other people of the same with full knowledge of their own inner struggle. They had zero compassion and zero empathy for the LGBTQ community, but in so doing, they were actually condemning themselves as well.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking — absolutely breathtaking.
So what is the moral of this rather immoral story? I actually think there is one, and it’s a good one. While Haggard’s Law is, by no means, a solid scientific theory in any sense of the word, and you most certainly shouldn’t take it as gospel, I think it points to a half-truth that we ought to acknowledge.
And what is that half-truth? It’s that human beings are masters at projecting. According to psychologist Karen R. Koenig, projection refers to unconsciously observing unwanted emotions or traits that you don’t like about yourself and criticizing them in someone else. Yes, we all have an awful habit of projecting onto others what we don’t like about ourselves, don’t we?
On the other hand, Conversely, those who embrace self-acceptance and have the audacity to confront their own flaws and imperfections usually refrain from projecting them onto others. “They have no need, as they can tolerate recognizing or experiencing the negatives about themselves without judging themselves,” Koenig adds. Not that same-sex attraction should be viewed as something negative — unless you happen to be brought up in the church, that is.
Here is where I become conflicted.
You might sit back and condemn these men for their hypocrisy, and that is fair enough. It is thoroughly despicable and deserves to be called as much. I’ve certainly poked fun at these men, but at the same time, I feel more than a modicum of compassion for them. Why? These men were brought up in a system where they were taught same-sex attraction was a horrible evil. When they observed it one day in themselves, to their own horror, they were confronted with a terrible choice.
Either they could accept their sexuality and be rejected by their faith community, or they could suppress their sexuality and still cling to their sense of belonging but live a kind of tortured existence. To silence their inner doubts, they lashed out at others, doubling down on their self-hatred and expressing it toward those who most reminded them of themselves.
Perhaps they despised those who had accepted their sexuality as a gift and the freedom that came with it — all the while observing it from inside the cage the system had created for them.
They are both villains and victims.
Needless to say, the sorry sagas of each of the men in hypocrisy’s hall of fame would not have occurred had they grown up in a system that blessed them to be who they really are rather than forcing them to pretend to be something they are not.