Ted Haggard told reporerts at a 25-minute press conference that his days of meth and gay escorts were a “wandering in the wilderness” time and he’s back and busier than ever promoting the new HBO documentary by Alexandra Pelosi (Nancy’s daughter, above) in which he criticizes his former church.
The AP reports: “During a guest sermon last November at a friend’s church in Illinois, Haggard said a co-worker of his father molested him when he was 7, an experience that “started to produce fruit” later. Clarifying that Friday, Haggard said: ‘I’m certainly not saying that because of that, I did this. I did what I did by my choice, and I’m responsible for it.’ Haggard said he isn’t qualified to judge what factors into one’s sexuality, but still believes it’s ‘God’s perfect plan’ for marriage to be between a man and woman. ‘I think sexuality is confusing and complex,’ Haggard said. ‘I am totally completely satisfied with the relationship with my wife now, but I went through a wandering in the wilderness time, and I just thank God I’m on the other side of that.’ Asked whether he could define his sexual identity, Haggard said: ‘The stereotypical boxes don’t work for me. My story’s got some gray areas in it. And, of course, I’m sad about that but it’s the reality.’ Later Friday, in a Q&A session with reporters at a Television Critics Association meeting in Universal City, Calif., Haggard said he should have been more open with his family and his congregation earlier, calling his actions ‘hypocrisy.'”
Gay escort Mike Jones (above, right) said Haggard was simply a good salesman: “I know he’s gone through a lot. When he said he had to say something, I believe it. And I think that was God encouraging him to do that. I know he’s apologized to his church and family, blah, blah. But the people he hurt is the gay community, and he’s never apologized to the gay community. He owes that.”
