‘Ex-gay’ lobbyist alleges gay rights advocate put Hit on Him } They Still do That?
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Truth Wins Out, a non-profit advocacy group that fights anti-LGBT extremism, has reacted with outrage and disgust over a television interview in which Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), who claimed that TWO Executive Director, Wayne Besen, put a hit out on his life.
Wayne Besen (left) and Greg Quinlan.
Quinlan, a lobbyist for the New Jersey Family Policy Council, appeared in an interviewwith Mark Segraves on WDCW-TV in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 7 — the comments, first noticed by Ex-Gay Watch, came to TWO’s attention on Tuesday.
Throughout the show, Quinlan distorts reality and flat out dissembles on several subjects, and fabricated an alleged hit on his life, said TWO, in a statementWednesday.
“Truth Wins Out if you look further, including Wayne Besen. He’s asked for people, you know, somebody needs to run Greg over. He needs to be hit with a bus. Somebody should inject him with AIDS. Those are the things that Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out says about me. That’s pretty hateful rhetoric,” said Quinlan.
“The bizarre and defamatory scenario portrayed by Quinlan exists only in his own mind,” said Besen. “What he said is entirely fabricated and a dishonest and brazen attempt to smear me personally, destroy my reputation, and discredit the good work of Truth Wins Out.”
Besen called the remarks “outright libel” and a “complete fabrication that he invented out of thin air.”
The integrity of PFOX has long been questioned. Its former president,Richard Cohen, was expelled for life from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. A key member of the organization’s Speaker’s Bureau, Arthur Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon sent to prison for financial fraud.In 2010, Quinlan attended a conference organized by Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, a group that is listed as a certified Southern Poverty Law Center hate group. During his speech at the meeting, Quinlan disparaged LGBT people and said that when he used to live as an openly gay man he wasn’t a “flaming faggot.”“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
“It speaks to Quinlan’s character that he lies so easily and simply makes things up,” said Besen.
“I’d be willing to take a lie detector test to prove my innocence and to show that I’ve never said such vile words,” he said. “Will Quinlan also take these tests to prove the ‘veracity’ of his calumny?”
Besen commented that his organization is exploring its legal options.
Comments