ANTI-GAY CHRISTIAN RIGHT CRUSADER CAUGHT WITH ‘RENTBOY’
The pictures on the Rentboy.com profile show a shirtless young man with delicate features, guileless eyes, and sun-kissed, hairless skin. The profile touts his “smooth, sweet, tight ass” and “perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)” and explains he is “sensual,” “wild,” and “up for anything” — as long you ask first. And as long as you pay. On April 13, the “rent boy” (whom we’ll call Lucien) arrived at Miami International Airport on Iberian Airlines Flight 6123, after a ten-day, fully subsidized trip to Europe. He was soon followed out of customs by an old man with an atavistic mustache and a desperate blond comb-over, pushing an overburdened baggage cart. That man was George Alan Rekers, of North Miami — the callboy’s client and, as it happens, one of America’s most prominent anti-gay activists. Rekers, a Baptist minister who is a leading scholar for the Christian right, left the terminal with his gay escort, looking a bit discomfited when a picture of the two was snapped with a hot-pink digital camera. [via MIAMI NEW TIMES]
CHER’S DAUGHTER OFFICIALLY BECOMES A MAN
A year after undergoing a sex change, Chaz Bono is now legally a man. A Santa Monica, Calif., judge granted the political and social activist’s petition for a gender and name change Thursday, according to a spokesperson for the Transgender Law Center, which represented Bono. Born Chastity Bono to famous parents Cher and Sonny Bono, Chaz started the female-to-male sex change March 2009, shortly after his 40th birthday. “It’s hard for me to articulate how this feels — when you’ve lived your whole life in a body and having everybody relate to you as something you don’t feel,” Bono, 41,told PEOPLE back in December. “When that finally gets righted, it’s just amazing. I finally get to live my life the way I’ve always wanted to.” [via PEOPLE]
GARY BARBERA FACING JAIL TIME FOR TAX EVASION
A prominent Philadelphia car dealer, Gary Barbera, admitted in federal district court yesterday that he filed false tax returns in 2003 and 2004, cheating Uncle Sam out of $77,675 in taxes. Barbera, 45, of Gladwyne, is to be sentenced on Sept. 15 and could face from 12 to 18 months in a federal lockup. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bond. As part of his plea, Barbera must pay $109,995 in restitution to the IRS, including $20,000 before sentencing. Neither Barbera nor his attorney would comment to reporters afterward. The car dealer could also lose his professional auto-sales license after being sentenced. The government’s plea memo said Barbera underreported income from two car dealerships, Gary Barbera Dodgeland and Gary Barbera Chryslerland, and used the two corporations to pay personal expenses. [via DAILY NEWS]