/ 3 November 2006

US evangelical leader hit by gay sex claims

A top leader of the powerful United States evangelical movement and outspoken opponent of gay marriage with close White House links has stepped down from his positions following allegations he paid for sex with a male prostitute.

Ted Haggard announced he was voluntarily stepping aside as president of the 30-million-strong National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor at the New Life Church after self-proclaimed gay male prostitute Mike Jones said he had been having sex with Haggard for three years.

Haggard denied the allegations, but said he was giving up his positions to make way for an investigation by his church. ”I’ve never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I’m steady with my wife. I’m faithful to my wife,” he told local media.

But the New Life Church’s interim pastor, Ross Parsley, told local television station KKTV that Haggard admitted to some but not all of the prostitute’s allegations.

”There has been some admission of indiscretion … there is an admission of some guilt,” Parsley said in an interview.

In a formal statement released by the church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Haggard said he had placed himself on administrative leave. ”I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity,” he said, while not repeating his earlier denial.

”I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance.”

The married father of five, who has denied the allegations, is seen as an ardent supporter of President George Bush and is often credited with rallying evangelical voters behind the Republicans during the 2004 election.

He reportedly takes part in regular conference calls with White House staff and was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelical Christians in the US.

Haggard’s decision to step down came after a 49-year-old Denver man told a local radio network that the religious leader had been his client for three years.

Mike Jones said he had felt compelled to come forward because he believed Haggard’s stance against same-sex unions was hypocritical. ”After sitting back and contemplating this issue, the biggest reason is being a gay man all my life, I have experience with my friends, some great sadness of people that were in a relationship through the years,” Jones said.

”I felt it was my responsibility to my fellow brothers and sisters, that I had to take a stand, and I cannot sit back any more and hear [what] to me is an anti-gay message.”

Haggard gained national prominence as a leader of conservative evangelical Christians who acted as a liaison to the Bush White House, which depended heavily on religious conservatives in recent elections.

Backing the stance taken by Bush, Haggard rallied support against gay marriages across the US after Massachusetts legalised same-sex unions in 2004. — Sapa-AFP