For six years, millions of right-wing conservatives have been vilifying gays. “Homosexuality is a sin!” they cry. “God hates fags!” their banners scream. “Ban gay marriage!” they insist.

Millions of people shouting for years.

And in one day, one gay man has made a statement louder than all of them.

Mike Jones, a homosexual from Denver, revealed that Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals and advisor to President Bush and Karl Rove, paid him for sex and methamphetamine. According to Jones, he decided to tell his story because he was upset that Haggard and his New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage. “It made me angry that here’s someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex,” he said (thestarpress.com, 11/3/06).

At first Haggard denied Jones’ claim completely. A day later, after learning exactly what proof Jones had to support the claim, Haggard amended his denial to admit only those parts Jones could prove. So at the very least, Haggard’s a liar. He claims now that he did purchase illegal drugs, but he didn’t take them. Still a felony, right?

As a liberal Christian, I am pleased that Mr. Haggard’s followers are finally being forced to face their own unwarranted (and un-Christian!) hatred of gays. Most of these conservative evangelicals have never met a real, live homosexual. It is much easier to detest a group in which you have no personal investment. Now, however, they have their very own experience with homosexuality - a man they have trusted and liked and believed in turns out to be gay. If Haggard finally comes clean and his followers get over their denial, perhaps they’ll learn something: gay people are not the bogeymen that right-wingers have painted them as for the past few years. Most of them are nice people who love God and their families and friends just like most heterosexuals.

As a former “paid escort” and methamphetamine dealer, Mike Jones is not the best representative of the gay community. But his single statement has shaken an entire population. And I think the most ironic thing is that that population gave him the power to do it by maligning homosexuals for so long. They turned gays into monsters. They empowered him by demonizing him. Face it. If Haggard had been a Unitarian Universalist, Jones’ news wouldn’t have created a ripple.

So here we are four days before elections, and things just keep getting weirder for conservatives. Foley and Haggard are gay; Limbaugh is an insensitive jerk; Coulter, DeLay and others are facing criminal charges. The hypocrisy is staggering. If things don’t change on Tuesday, one of two things will have happened. Either Karl Rove and his cronies will have successfully rigged the election (again) OR Americans will have gone completely insane. And either way, I’ll be moving to Canada.