A male escort claims that in October 2010 Chris Myers—the Republican mayor of Medford, New Jersey—found him on rentboy.com and offered $500 to sleep with him. When Myers didn’t deliver the money, the hustler created a website (now shuttered) with the above picture and details of their alleged encounter.
Then things got worse.
The city government started receiving anonymous e-mails—one of which included a link to the the escort’s tell-all website along with the mayor’s personal phone number, and another which read, “Chris Myers is a lying, manipulative, egotistical hypocrite and escort enthusiast. I am proof.”
Myers said that anyone could have found his personal contact info online and that the alleged photo of him in his undies may have been Photoshopped: “I’ve been down that road before, where a photo has been Photoshopped to look like something it wasn’t.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Do we have another Philip Hinkle on our hands—or just a case of an angry escort trying to take down a public figure?
Hyhybt
*May* have been photoshopped? If the subject of the photo doesn’t know, then that means that even if it turns out to be fake, there’s a real one somewhere similar enough that it doesn’t matter.
Shannon1981
@Hyhybt: Exactly. Only a matter of time, and this joker will be outed for sure. Whoever this escort is, keep it coming!
Kurt
The Mayor did the kid favor. $500? No way!
kylew
In fairness, has Chris Myers ever expressed any anti-gay sentiments? Because if he hasn’t, I honestly don’t see what the problem is with him hiring rentboys, except that he doesn’t pay his debts.
It would be a shame if anti-anti-gay sentiment ran so hot that we hurt one of our own in an effort to expose anti-gay politicians.
declanto
From what I’ve read on HP the rentboy was promised gratuities other and in addition to his fee. It’s clearly revenge motivated, but then Meyers IS a repuplican so what can we expect? He has clearly alligned himself with the enemy so let the chips fall where they may.
B
According to http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2011/10/22/news/doc4ea223453cddd050255665.txt “An anonymous ‘Rentboy’ escort in California this month has accused Myers of renting him for $500 in an encounter one night last October at a hotel in Newport Beach, Calif. — then not making good on other promises Myers allegedly made that night to buy him a car and the guts of a recording studio.”
Personally, I don’t believe the story – it doesn’t make sense for some guy to hire a rentboy for $500 and then offer him a car, etc., when they presumably had just met, and when they met because the mayor had allegedly sent a text message to a rentboy service. After all, when if you call a plumber, you kind of expect him to fix your plumbing, charge what seems to be a ridiculous fee, and then head off somewhere else. You don’t expect to have to throw a car in as part of the bargain or feel slighted if you don’t give him a tip.
Kind of wonder if the mayor has political enemies who set him up in some way.
JoeHasley
@declanto:
No, Republicans are not enemies. I’m a Republican, and I follow what the party has always been about – small government and personal freedom.
Republicans never cared about moral issues until Reagan got into office. (Of course, very few people on here would know that because Queerty never reports on things more intellectually stimulating than a recap of last week’s “A-List: Dallas”.)
Just because someone is a Republican does not make them the enemy to the gay rights movement. I know plenty of Republicans who are very pro-marriage equality. In fact, the passage of gay marriage in New York was helped in part by a group of extremely wealthy (and straight!) Republicans who believed that a small government shouldn’t be allowed to tell people who they can and cannot marry.
By demonizing all Republicans as “the enemy” you are only reinforcing divisions that will further hinder our chance at equality.
Shame on you.
fredo777
Nice taste in undies, mayor.
Dirty Ole Man
@Joe Hasley
Republicans are the enemy! Reagan got the Evangelicals, White South, DixieCrats, et al to join the Republicans.
Yes, there are nice rich Republican ladies left that reside mainly in the northease, but the Klan has to leave the Republicans before that party will be what it was.
P.S. Eisenhower would be a bleeding liberal today.
B
No. 1 · Hyhybt wrote, “*May* have been photoshopped? If the subject of the photo doesn’t know, then that means that even if it turns out to be fake, there’s a real one somewhere similar enough that it doesn’t matter.”
I wouldn’t draw such a conclusion at this point – Myers might not have seen the photos at the point when he made that comment. Other possibilities include someone rigging his room with some hidden cameras, perhaps disguised as smoke detectors or what have you, using a wireless connection to control the devices and download the images. http://www.homespy.com/hidden_cameras_wireless_pro_grade.php has some examples.
Some of the pictures (on another site) seemed to show him with his eyes closed, so he might not have known that some pictures were taken if the alleged rentboy did in fact take some.
Akula
JoeHasley yes republicans are the enemy along with a good anmout of democrats all the ones owned by corporations, anyone that still believes that republicans believe in small gov and being truly conservative is lying to themselves. There are very very few republicans that stand up for gay rights and they all toe the line when told to do so. I’m sorry but yes they are the enemy.
doug105
@JoeHasley:
Have you not seen a GOP debate? And only Two isn’t it that haven’t signed the NOM pledge?
If you count Fred who they wont even let into a debate.Sounds like the enemy to me.
Hyhybt
@JoeHasley: Nonetheless, gay-friendly Republican POLITICIANS are few and far between.
geoff
Joe Hasley: Since you seem not to know any, let me introduce you to some “anti-gay anything” republicans: Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Michele Bachman, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Of course at least one of these has flipped on the issue of gay marriage – but given all their track records, I bet you can’t guess just one! And one small group of hedge-fund republicans does not a party make. Pre 1980 republicans were a LONG time ago and not much relevant today. And by the way, if you think the the republican party is about personal freedom – boy do they have a fool in you.
JoeHasley
It’s really sad that all of you are stereotyping an entire group of people. As gay citizens, you should know better.
scribe31
@JoeHasley: I understand your point, but it is really hard for me to get behind your thinking. I live in Michigan, a state where the Republicans led the charge to ban gay marriage, are currently figthing tooth and nail to end same sex healthcare to college employees, and trying to get a state ban to remove protections of homosexuals in hiring and housing laws in several cities. Republicans always scream that they are for smaller government, except when that government is creeping into gay men and pregnant women’s lives (did I mention the hard-on they have for unions? wtf). If I have to choose between being able to cover my partner on my health care and being able to leave him my pension, or paying less in taxes, I will go with the dems everytime.
Trip
Any man of that age wearing underwear as tacky as those briefs is undoubtedly, undeniably, gay. Period.
Otis Criblecoblis
@JoeHasley: JoeHasley, you’re not too bright, are you? There is *nothing* redeeming about today’s Republi-con party – which is not about “small government & personal freedom” (that’s a good one) – rather, these jokers want to dismantle valuable social programs, the very safely net of a civilized society. Even Richard Nixon’s Republicans believed in this social safety net.
Did you also support George W. Bush’s wars of choice? The trajic & totally unneccessary war in Iraq has cost us trillions of dollars & has fueled further unconscionable growth of the military-industrial complex, which Dwight Eisenhower – one of the last reasonable Republicans – strongly warned against. So you support “small government”, except where it involves welfare for the Pentagon & military contractors. Do you realize we spend more on defense (incl. homeland security & alphabet spooks) than the REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED?? Doesn’t that concern you just a teeny tiny bit?
And “personal freedom”? You’re kidding, right? …or you’re an idiot, or you haven’t been paying attention, or you’re just a jerk. For eight years, “Boy Genius”, aka “Porcine Pig” Karl Rove drove hateful campaigns against gays & women – how could you not notice that??
The only other possibility is that you’re very wealthy & you are Republican because you think that is the best way to preserve your wealth. Well you know what buddy, it’s not fair & it’s not right that you & other Republi-cons are not being reasonable in compromising about a small incremental tax on high earners. It’s not about “soaking the rich”, it’s about asking them to pay their fair share when they have been super successful *while taking advantage of infrastructure that all of us have paid for.*
Begone! …slimy, stinking, smelly Republi-cons!!! And don’t soil the White House towels ever again!
Schlukitz
@JoeHasley:
“In fact, the passage of gay marriage in New York was helped in part by a group of extremely wealthy (and straight!) Republicans who believed that a small government shouldn’t be allowed to tell people who they can and cannot marry.”
Citation needed.
JoeHasley
@Otis Criblecoblis:
I’m not too bright? Please. I went to Northwestern for undergrad and I’ll be finishing up my MBA from Columbia in May.
Besides that, I’m done posting on here. Everyone on here just comes off as unintelligent and quite ignorant of many things. I don’t really know why I read this site to be honest. It’s quite childish and more along the lines of a gossip site a la Perez Hilton rather than a legitimate and respectable blog. Guilty pleasure I guess.
Schlukitz
@JoeHasley:
“It’s really sad that all of you are stereotyping an entire group of people. As gay citizens, you should know better.”
Um..me thinks you have that backwards Joe Hasley.
It’s really sad that all of you Republicans are stereotyping an entire group of people. As politicians whose salaries are paid by gays, as well as heterosexuals, you Republicans should know better.
JoeHasley
Before I go I will offer you the citation. @JoeHasley:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/nyregion/the-road-to-gay-marriage-in-new-york.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&hp
BTW, if anyone wants anyone wants an example of the Republicans I was referring to, look at Bloomberg, a huge champion of gay rights and a *Republican*.
There’s more to Republicanism than the crazy middle American evangelicals.
So before you demonize an entire group, think a little.
Schlukitz
@JoeHasley:
Thank you for providing that link. It does prove that positive support can and does come from unexpected places.
I just wish that the Republicans would make more of an effort to distance themselves from the crazy middle American evangelicals…or better yet, banish them from their party in order to restore it to the status it once had.
Riker
@Schlukitz: See, here’s the thing. You don’t get to criticize someone for stereotyping in one breath, and then say “all of you” anything in the next. Unless you have interviewed every single republican or have some sociological data to back up your assertion that all republicans do something, that IS stereotyping.
Schlukitz
@Riker:
I have always believed in giving a man credit for his words.
If you will go back to comment no. 15 by Joe Halsey, you will note that it was he who said “all of you”. Here is a copy and paste of his original comment.
“It’s really sad that ‘all of you’ are stereotyping an entire group of people.”
I merely paraphrased what HE said, so your chastisement should have been directed at him…not at me.
Otis Criblecoblis
@JoeHasley: Joe, if you really exist – and btw if you do, i feel very sorry for you – you really show no ability to make critical decisions, to parse reality …but this doesn’t surprise me, as anyone who identifies as “Republican” today is a bit challenged in terms of understanding what is really happening in this world.
n00b
@Otis Criblecoblis: You are frankly no better than bigoted politicians who think all gays are AIDS-spreading freaks. You can’t even have a conversation about a whole party without lumping all of them into a single stereotype for you to hate. At least some Republicans can talk sensibly about gay rights without losing their shit and throwing ad hominem attacks everywhere. Grow up.
Also, I love how you conveniently decided to ignore that Republicans are the ones who pushed to pass for gay marriage in NY. Shouldn’t that make you pause and think for a second? The handful of Republicans you guys love to assimilate as “all of them” on here are all morons. Even a moron knows that. But you’d be a fool to think that such a strong party was composed of just morons like those. But then again maybe it helps you sleep better while cuddling your hatred for those “damn Republicans.” So keep being oblivious to realities of the world while calling others “challenged in terms of understanding” them. You clearly are the one who can’t analyze things sophistically.
Otis Criblecoblis
@n00b: hey noobie: you’re serious about standing up for today’s Republi-cons? May Barry Goldwater have mercy on your soul.
Sorry buddy, it’s your problem, not mine …you show a clear inability to understand what this party is about. Seriously, it’s not that hard! Repeat after me: Today’s Republi-cons are a bunch of phony obstructionists who not only have no ideas on how to move our country forward, but they are lapdogs for the Wall Street 1% of greedy asshats who brought down the world’s economy once, and will do it again in a heatbeat when given the chance. Not to mention – they will start another cultural war against gays and anyone else they perceive as vulnerable to their multi-million-dollar campaigns fueled by the bizarro Koch Brothers & Karl “Hateful Sad Sack” Rove.
Robert in NYC
No. 7, who in the House and Senate on the republican side supports marriage equality? More than 90% in the Democratic side support it, why hardly any republicans if they’re so supportive? Why aren’t they speaking out? Why did only 8 republicans support repeal of DADT? You know, marriage is a very conservative thing, shouldn’t the majority or republicans support it if they really are conservatives or are they running scared of the right wing religious extremists who are controlling your party? Doesn’t show much leadership or balls now does it.
I’m amazed how you all claim you want small government, but you loved big government to start Bush’s two wars that have yet to be paid for. Why aren’t the republicans in both houses refusing their federal health benefits I wonder? I think the entire party should collectively decline all of the federal benefits package now and when they retire. Let them buy their own, they can well afford it. They don’t need medicare and they don’t need social security. Let them prove how much they hate big government by being the first to decline their employee benefits paid for by the tax payers.
Michael
Those who scream the loudest are the ones with most to hide.
Don’t know who this dude is but he sounds like the predictable anti gay against gay rights republican figure head AS USUAL.
Schlukitz
@n00b:
“At least some Republicans can talk sensibly about gay rights without losing their shit and throwing ad hominem attacks everywhere.”
You mean like Rep. Frank Riggs of CA and Rep. Joel Heffley of CO?
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/18/us/republicans-introduce-2-bills-in-fight-against-homosexuality.html
Or Rep. Randy Forbes of VA is continuing the conservative movement’s attacks on LGBT families by accusing them of undermining “the traditional American family.
http://veracitystew.com/2011/02/15/republican-introduces-bill-attacking-gay-families/
Or Rick Santorum who pledged his life against gays?
http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=9842&MediaType=1&Category=26
Or Rep.Sally Kern from OK who said that “Gays are more dangerous than terrorists?
http://fromtheleft.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/oklahoma-rep-sally-kern-gays-more-dangerous-than-terrorist-attacks/
Or Republicans like Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Bob Allen and Glen Murphey, Jr., all closet case gay Republicans who made ad hominem attacks against LGBT people and voted against their civil rights and equality?
Ya mean those kind of “sensible” Republicans noobie? Good thing that they are not being insensible. We LGBT people would be in deep do-do.
Riker
@Robert in NYC: What do you know about Joe? How do you know he supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Again, stereotyping.
Why should the republicans refuse their healthcare packages? Anybody with a decent job gets healthcare nowadays, so why should they be any different?
Politically Incorrect Thug
@JoeHasley: Good for you. Maybe one day our gay brothers and sisters will understand that we don’t all have to be in sync to be heard.
@Otis Criblecoblis: FYI, it was Obama-Christ who bailed out the banks. Got that? Oh-Bomb-Uh. Not Bush, not the Republicans, not Karl Rove—it was the liberal messiah himself. Bailed ’em out and let ’em slide with their golden parachutes. And now all the whiners of the world think it’s the fault of rich Republicans, which begs the question, How ignorant can a bunch of hippies be? Are they truly this clueless? I suppose there have been dumber protests in the scheme of things, but still, clips from these goobers make for comedy gold.
Michael
@n00b:
Finding a republican who speaks sensibly eloquently much less intelligently and is a supporter of gay rights is like looking for a needle in a big ass haystack.
I happen to know some who do but they are too few and far in between.
randy
@JoeHasley: You are of course correct.
Nonetheless, the Republican party as it now exists is extremely anti-gay. Just one example: When the Republican took over in Michigan, the first thing they did was eliminate domestic partner benefits. In Congress, the Republicans vote strictly down party lines with regards to DADT, DOMA and other gay issues. Not a single candidate for the GOP nomination is anything but 100% anti-gay.
I’m not saying the Dems are uniformly good either, we have many enemies there too. But the fact remains that the although individual Republicans can be on our side, the party as a whole is 100% anti-gay.
That isn’t going to change unless and until you and all your gay-friendly Republicans make your voice heard. You have to out shout the Tea Partiers. Not saying it’s easy, but if you are going to claim that you are a member of the party, and the party hates gays, it’s a reasonable assumption that the GOP hates gays.
lightmyfire
The only way to the gay rights movement can succeed is if we get more Republicans on our side. That’s how we got DADT reppealed and marriage eqality in NY. The Democrats will never have complete and total control of Congress, so Republican support is necessary. Instead of calling them names and attacking them (however much they might deserve it) the only way we can win is if we win them over.
Pep, Italy
@JoeHasley – sadly enough your efforts here are wasted 🙁
Robert in NYC
Riker, I’m referring to the republicans in the House and the Senate who SHOULD refuse their federally funded benefits package, it’s called big government that they hate so much. They and their elderly parents should decline medicare and social security, big government again. They’re nothing but hypocrites.
Regarding the wars, again I’m referring to the republican House and Senate who refused to pay for both and gave unlimited financial resources to the military industrial complex, Halliburton and Blackwater to name a few.
Name me one GOP senator or congressman in the House who supports marriage equality, name one please. I can’t.
Stupid
Oh, you never try to rip off a ho, OK girl? Republicans are stupid.
declanto
@JoeHasley:
Shame on me? you gotta be joking. Ok so all republicans aren’t total ass-hat homophobes, but they’re no all pro equality, either. I perceive who comes out in my behalf, I likewise perceive who wants to put me in a cold dark place. I am more right than I am wrong. Don’t go trying to put that “shame” shit on my head.
Haightmale
This guy is a small town mayor – and the escort is trying to extort $20K worth of sound and computer equipment and a BMW M4 from the guy.
It’s more amusing – except when you consider the amyor’s wife and kids.
http://www.jiveinthe415.com/2011/10/angry-rentboy-claims-republican-mayor.html
Haightmale
This guy is a small town mayor – and the escort is trying to extort $20K worth of sound and computer equipment and a BMW M4 from the guy.
It’s more amusing – except when you consider the mayor’s wife and kids.
http://www.jiveinthe415.com/2011/10/angry-rentboy-claims-republican-mayor.html
Cinesnatch
Queerty fails to make mea culpa for tasteless headline: http://tiny.cc/yurxm
billyWingarten
http://www.ranker.com/list/top-10-anti-gay-activists-caught-being-gay/joanne
(actually now top 15)
The website that lists now the TOP 15 liars, all gay, almost all repubs, all anti gay.
Includes minister Ted Haggard who is so gay you can spsot him with his picture
And trhe head / founder of the hate group FRC, George rekers. The big deal with rekers is he paid, per the rentboy.com website, about $15000 for his “escort” , whom he took with him to Europe for BJs etc
The big deal of hte hate is that rekers and others can pay that kind of money for a frostitute.
Capitalism at its finest. I’m not religious, the bible has caused more deaths and horrors then any other book in history.
But it got it right about “the love of money is the root of all evil.
BTW re the Vatican -the number one enemy of gays httpL//nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm
kawneekwa
@fredo777 You is so right and took the word right outta my mouth. His blue briefs is all that!
B
No. 44 · billyWingarten wrote, “http://www.ranker.com/list/top…..gay/joanne (actually now top 15) The website that lists now the TOP 15 liars, all gay, almost all repubs, all anti gay.”
That web site has some inaccuracies. For instance, regarding Rekers, it states, “There is no way to stumble upon a profile on rentboy.com, as they are all private.” That’s not really true. When the scandal first became public, that claim was made, so out of curiosity I did a test – with a complex query, I managed to find a profile on rentboy without going through rentboy’s home page – via google or some other site: rentboy apparently did not use the referrer header to block requests.
Rekers’ rentboy commented that you had to go through some specific pages to find his profile (or something like that) – I think he was mistaken, not lying, as he probably doesn’t understand how HTTP and web servers work at a technical level.
Keep in mind that other sites could have comments about various rentboys with links to the rentboys’ profiles. Even if rentboy.com uses a directive to tell search engines not to index its pages, that won’t stop searches of other websites. Also, Rekers could conceivably have simply asked someone who then gave Rekers the rentboy’s number or email address, or a URL to a contact page.
While there are a number of ways he could have innocently hired a rentboy, the most likely explanation is (as Freud would say) “repressed homosexuality.” The argument that he purposely hired a rentboy is not an airtight one, but it is a pretty good guess given the circumstantial evidence – good enough for Saturday Night Live, but maybe not quite good enough to convict him of a crime.
Johnson
@JoeHasley: Actually, Bloomberg has been an Independent since 2007. There’s a reason he’s changed affiliation. He realized that Republicans of today are disparate from many of his own views, particularly on same-sex issues.
ewe
Most people should just keep they damn clothes ON.
Little Kiwi
@JoeHasley: shame on YOU. actually.
your selective amnesia about your chosen allies is, in a word, pathetic.
ewe
@Johnson: And it is amazing that democrats are only now calling him on his shit now that he is in the eleventh hour of being mayor. What a load of crap ALL our media is.
B
No. 41 · Haightmale wrote, “This guy is a small town mayor – and the escort is trying to extort $20K worth of sound and computer equipment and a BMW M4 from the guy.”
According to http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/website-alleges-mayor-paid-for-sex/article_c0325af6-d106-5356-a0cf-7185ea859356.html this guy is a VP at Lockheed-Martin in Moorestown NJ, so he probably has a high income.
Regarding No. 30 where Michael wrote, Don’t know who this dude is but he sounds like the predictable anti gay against gay rights republican figure head AS USUAL.” … that’s the problem with people jumping to conclusions: according to the URL cited above, “Myers said the website could be the work of right-wing Republicans, since he opposed the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy on homosexuality. The mayor also recalled being recognized in California at some point and being called a hypocrite’ for his position on renewable energy.” (He’s working on solar energy projects at Lockheed Martin and campaigned on pushing renewable energy, but also for increasing oil production domestically).
BTW, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK6yPk8j6OM&feature=player_embedded#! has one of his campaign speeches while he was running for congress. Draw your own conclusions.
IUSA
Atleast he’s looking hot on that bed…I’m just saying…