Broadway actor and Girls star Andrew Rannells has just come out as the victim of sexual harassment…by a priest.
Rannells, who had a big breakout role in The Book of Mormon, grew up a practicing Catholic in Nebraska. In his new memoir, Too Much is Never Enough, he reveals that as a teenager he once attended confession with a priest identified as Father Dominic.
After the particularly emotional confession, (one in which the priest and patron sit face-to-face, rather than in a confession booth), Father Dominic forced himself on Andrew.
“He stood up and pulled me up with him,” Rannells writes. “He hugged me tightly. I felt safe and heard and understood. Then, with unexpected force, he kissed me. On the lips. He muscled his tongue into my mouth and held the back of my head still. Then he released me and made the sign of the cross on my forehead. He smiled.”
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Nobody saw the exchange, which left Rannells feeling violated and confused. At his high school graduation, Rannells also reveals Father Dominic kissed him on the mouth again, this time with tongue. The incident also left Andrew angry.
“I felt a little numb,” he writes. “I thought, How many teenage boys have to deal with this sh*t at their graduation parties? Am I the only one? Or was Father Dominic just taking a tour of homes and forcing French kisses on young men throughout the city? If I had to kiss a priest at my graduation party, why couldn’t it have been a priest I wanted to kiss? More important, why did I have to kiss anyone?”
The new memoir also details Rannells’ harassment by nuns for making friends and playing with girls as a child–a thinly veiled form of homophobia aimed at shaming him away from effeminacy. Ultimately, after Father Dominic’s assault, Rannells chose to leave the Catholic Church and Nebraska for gay life in New York.
rand503
Priests and nuns — can you think of any more screwed up people?
Kangol
If the Omaha, Nebraska Catholic diocese has undertaken a recent bit of self-scrutiny like so many Catholic dioceses across the US, I wonder if Fr. Dominic’s name is on the list of priests accused of sexual abuse? Perhaps Andrew Rannells should check to make sure it is.
mz.sam
After 10yrs. of a Catholic education and brainwashing I am finally now a happy atheist.
Jussie_Racist_Clown
You are picking at bones here. You already slandered the church into oblivion as far as the gay community is concerned so why keep bashing? You job is done. You win. Leave it.
Nobody cares what this unknown actor thinks about the church. He’s selling books don’t forget.
Kangol
He’s actually quite well known as an actor, and has every right to tell his story. The Church’s horrific actions, like those of countless clerics in it, have disgraced it far worse than any slander could match.
Don’t defend homophobic institutions or child sexual abuse. Doing so is repugnant.
Jussie_Racist_Clown
@Kangol. It’s just that hating on the Catholic church has gotten so goddamn tired. It’s a bore. It’s no different than hating on Muslims or Jews and it borders on hate speech. In addition who are we to criticize a priest for trying to hook up. We do that every day, why shouldn’t he? Please don’t respond with some lecture about morals and right v wrong. That means nothing here.
Vince
So shining a light on the Catholic Church is hate now? When they stop abusing and covering up sexual abuse and fighting against civil rights we can be more ambivalent.
Jussie_Racist_Clown
So, Vince. I guess you hold Islam to the same standards. Or maybe you think bacha bazi isn’t actually child rape. And throwing gay men off of buildings isn’t actually hate. If you’re going to come forward as a religion hater, then come forward as a hater across the board.
Billy Budd
Religion is poison. It destroys everything.
Ronbo
Religion is more of a crutch, than poison. It CAN help you and then later… be used to hit others – if that is your nature. The most kind and generous people that I know are religious. The most hateful and abusive people that I know are religious.
aequalitasTN
Excellent analogy, and so true re: the gambit of people involved.