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May–June 2015
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appetite,” said David, “but I simply responded in love.” Left
unexplored was the possibility that this guy really was, first and
foremost, an ardent baseball fan, whether gay or straight, who
really
wanted those tickets. So he meant it when he thanked the
Benham boys for reaching out in this way. He just forgot to add:
Dudes, you’ve been punked!
The Tenth Circle
There’s a newly ordained pastor in Puerto
Rico named José Santiago, and he wasn’t long on the job before
people began posting pictures of a guy who looked remarkably
like him—and not just any guy but a well-known gay porn star
named Gustavo Arrango. Sure enough, it turns out the two men
are one and the same! In his earlier life, Gustavo starred in many
films produced by Kristen Bjorn Studios. But that’s all behind
him now, claims Santiago, who says he found God and left porn
seven years ago. People who’ve observed his sermons say that
his mannerisms still spike their gaydar, but Santiago claims to
be “ex-gay,” and he’s even married a woman. Reporting on the
conversion, Banaguide.com couldn’t resist a wisecrack before
showing Arrango at work: “Here are some of the moments in
which Santiago may have found God...” And what the scenes
show is that Arrango specialized in two things: playing the re-
ceptive partner in anal sex and participating in huge orgies. To put
this into a Christian context, his sins were not confined to
sodomy but included group sex, exhibitionism, prostitution, and
extreme lust. Dante would have had to create a whole new circle
of hell! In the context of ex-gay therapy, most alums say they
weren’t “cured” even a little, so the trip from Gustavo Arrango
to Father José is quite an impressive leap indeed.
Twirl of Fate
Boston’s GLBT community exulted when for the
first a gay group was permitted to march in the annual St.
Patrick’s Day Parade through Southie. But rather than boast
about their new open-mindedness, the organizers announced—
after the fact—that it was all a mistake. It seems they green-
lighted “Boston Pride” believing it to be “an offshoot of ‘Boston
Strong,’” wrote parade organizer Brian Mahoney in the local
paper, noting that the parade doesn’t exclude gay people but only
“displays of controversial ideology.” Mahoney was especially
rankled when the Pride group showed up twirling rainbow um-
brellas: “
It was shocking and unauthorized when they appeared
at ‘G’ and Broadway carrying ten to twelve multicolored um-
brellas that I would describe as rainbow even though I have been
told they ‘technically’were not rainbows. Well, how’s this? Um-
brellas of any sort are not allowed.” Something to keep in mind
next time it rains on St. Patrick’s day in Boston.
Take Me Out
Two nouveau stars on cable TV claim they’ve
found a cure for homosexuality: baseball tickets! They’re the
Benham brothers, Jason and David, and they’re the darlings of
anti-gay viewers who tune in to HGTV to check out their latest
antics. One of their projects is to convince gay viewers to give
up their “lifestyle,” and they’ve found that when you reach out
to people, they’ll respond. For example, they talked to one gay
man and learned that he liked baseball, so they got him tickets
to a Cubs game and
voilà!
The guy was so moved by their kind-
ness that he stated in a thank-you note that he had decided to go
straight. It was all very touching, and the Benham brothers drew
out a deep moral lesson. Sure his gayness “made me lose my
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EVE TUSHNET
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FINDING LOVE in the CHURCH as a
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