By Wayne Besen, Executive Director
When I worked for the Human Rights Campaign, from 1998-2003, “ex-gay” activist Greg Quinlan proclaimed that he had once lobbied for the organization. By showing a radical transformation – gay activist to ex-gay – his tale instantly became more marketable to the media and presumably for public speaking engagements.
This week, the recently divorced fundamentalist, now working with Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), repeated the “lobbyist” story to the Christian Examiner, which uncritically dictated his claim. The problem is, Quinlan is either lying or greatly exaggerating any role he may have had with the gay organization.
I personally investigated this sexual engineer’s tale while still at HRC. No one in Washington or Dayton, Ohio, where he claims to have lobbied, remembers working with him. Now, it is possible that he licked stamps on volunteer night, at some point. Or, that Quinlan ate at a Human Rights Campaign dinner. But, that does not make him a lobbyist any more than the fact I went to a concert last month makes me a rock star.
If Quinlan has evidence that he played a major role with the Human Rights Campaign, he ought to present it or stop peddling his story to gullible Christian media outlets.
