THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090444
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Pat Robertson visited gay minister Mel White in the city jail Wednesday night to discuss his views on homosexuality and dropped trespassing charges against White.
``I am out! The happiest man you ever talked to in your life,'' White, 54, said shortly after being freed. ``No one believed he would come, including me.''
White had been fasting for more than three weeks in an effort to pressure Robertson into the meeting. He has lost almost 15 pounds.
White was elated that Robertson met with him.
``That he came is the only symbol that counts. He's recognized a country that he never recognized before: that gays and lesbians exist,'' White said. ``That he would make the pilgrimage in the middle of the evening is the beginning of what I hope will be more dialogue between us.''
White had sought the meeting, saying he believes Robertson's often-expressed views against homosexuality result in intolerance against gays and lesbians and, thus, fuel violence against homosexuals.
The 15-minute private meeting, which Robertson tape-recorded, took place at 8 p.m. in a visiting room at the jail. A jail spokesman said White was released less than an hour later.
Robertson said he told White that he condemned violence aimed at the homosexual community, strongly rejected White's views that Robertson's comments cause violence against homosexuals and restated his belief that homosexuality is biblically wrong.
``I have never preached hate . . . against (homosexuals) as you allege, and the charges that people were injured by violence incited by anything said by me are baseless,'' Robertson said in a letter he hand-delivered to White.
Robertson also told White that his Christian Broadcasting Network was dropping the trespassing charges for which White was jailed. The charges stemmed from a Feb. 15 incident in which White refused to leave CBN property. White told his supporters not to post the $1,000 bond and free him.
In Wednesday night's meeting, arranged by Sheriff Frank Drew, White asked Robertson to publicly acknowledge the rise of hate crimes against gays and lesbians and to repudiate anyone who incites those crimes.
White also asked Robertson to meet with a delegation of parents and friends of gays and lesbians to hear their stories.
He made the requests in a hand-written note that he gave to Robertson.
Robertson told White that he would respond to the requests in the next few days.
After Robertson left, Drew told White that CBN had dropped all charges against him.
``We won! I'm so proud of you all for being consistent,'' White said to one of his key supporters shortly after his release. White praised the gay and lesbian community and nongay supporters for continuing their daily vigils at CBN and said that dedication contributed to Robertson's decision to meet with him.
White then went off for a dinner of soup.
White will hold a news conference at noon today in the parking lot of a business along Indian River Road, across from CBN.
Robertson said his visit with White was the result of a request from White's parents.
``Your mother and father who are dedicated Christians and CBN supporters have written me as concerned parents to request that I meet with you,'' Robertson said in his letter.
White's parents, Carl and Faythe White, interviewed earlier Wednesday at their home in Scotts Valley, Calif., said they were upset that Robertson had not met with their son.
The couple said they have regularly given $1,000 a year to CBN and have given the organization about $100,000 in their will. Even with their son in jail to protest Robertson, they still watch ``The 700 Club'' every morning.
Both parents said they had put their son's welfare in God's hands and they were trying to not worry. ``He's coming to my birthday,'' said White's mother, who turns 80 on April 16. ``He better take care of himself.''
White had been fasting for more than three weeks, taking only a cup of milk in the morning, a cup of Tang in the evening and water. Before Robertson's visit to the jail, he had told supporters Wednesday that he would drink only water to sustain himself.
Officials at CBN had previously called White's fast and voluntary jail stint a ``publicity stunt'' and a ``desperate media campaign.''
White was a ghost writer for a Robertson book in 1986. He said he acknowledged his homosexuality in 1991, the year all ties with Robertson were severed.
White is a leader in the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Community Church, a 32,000-member Christian denomination for gays and lesbians. MEMO: Staff writer Steve Stone and the Associated Press also contributed to
this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Pat Robertson
Mel White
by CNB