As
David
Bianco,
he
created
a
syndication
service
that
provides
articles
to
dozens
of
gay
media
outlets,
including
this
newspaper.
As
David
Benkof,
he
will
soon
appear
on
national
television
to
oppose
gay
marriage.
When
a
gay
person
comes
out
of
the
closet,
rainbow
flags
wave
and
a
celebration
ensues.
But
when
a
gay
person
opts
to
pursue
opposite-sex
relationships,
that
support
turns
to
silence
or
even
attacks,
according
to
Benkof,
whose
legal
name
change
will
be
final
next
year.
"Nobody
gets
a
parade
for
leaving
the
gay
community,
and
I'm
one
of
the
more
high-profile
people
to
have
gone
through
this
transition
and
been
public
about
it,"
Benkof
said.
Benkof
was
formerly
well
known
in
gay
media
circles
as
journalist-entrepreneur
David
Bianco,
who
in
1995
founded
Q
Syndicate,
a
media
service
that
provides
columns,
cartoons,
crossword
puzzles
and
horoscopes
to
the
gay
press.
Now
Benkof
has
come
out
in
opposition
to
gay
marriage,
calling
it
unholy
in
"J,"
a
weekly
northern
California
Jewish
publication.
"Some
love
relationships
can
be
holy
and
some
—
such
as
those
between
members
of
the
same
sex
—
cannot,"
Benkof
said
in
the
Nov.
28
edition.
Later
this
month,
he
will
defend
his
stance
during
an
appearance
on
"Ricki
Lake"
dedicated
to
the
gay
marriage
debate,
he
said.
"I
believe
that
marriage
is
a
fundamental
bedrock
of
society
that
comes
from
God,
that
has
a
specific
definition
that
God
gave
us,
which
is
a
man
and
a
woman,"
Benkof
told
Southern
Voice.
Benkof's
new
political
views,
rooted
in
his
religious
convictions,
leave
gay
activists
divided
over
whether
Benkof
is
now
an
enemy
to
the
gay
rights
movement
he
once
supported.
"The
bottom
line
is
that
his
religious
views
themselves
are
despicable
and
detestable
because
they
are
saying
that
gay
is
bad,"
said
Wayne
Besen,
author
of
a
recent
book
criticizing
"ex-gay"
ministries.
"Anyone
who
would
say
that
is
not
a
friend
of
the
gay
movement."
But
despite
Benkof's
new
beliefs,
he
is
not
anti-gay,
according
to
Paula
Martinac,
editor
at
Q
Syndicate
and
a
former
co-worker
of
Benkof.
"In
my
opinion,
David
is
neither
actively
working
to
'convert'
gay
people
to
heterosexuality
nor
trying
to
harm
the
gay
movement,"
Martinac
said.
"Although
our
political
views
are
pretty
far
apart,
'anti-gay'
is
not
a
term
I
would
use
for
him."
Earlier
this
year,
Benkof
began
the
process
of
changing
his
name
from
Bianco
in
honor
of
the
30-year
anniversary
of
the
death
of
his
grandfather,
Julius
Benkof,
and
"secondarily
to
reflect
that
I've
changed
sexual
identity,"
he
said.
In
2001,
Benkof
sold
Q
Syndicate
to
Rivendell
Media,
another
agency
closely
tied
with
the
gay
press
that
distributes
syndicates
and
works
with
advertisers
that
want
to
reach
the
gay
market.
In
September
2003,
Benkof
severed
his
ties
with
the
company
completely,
no
longer
writing
his
column,
"Over
the
Rainbow."
"It
was
increasingly
odd
to
be
supervising
content
for
the
gay
media
on
a
day-to-day
basis
when
in
my
own
life
I
was
moving
away
from
gay
identity,"
Benkof
said.
Politically,
Benkof
said
he
still
supports
allowing
gays
to
serve
openly
in
the
military
and
banning
employment
discrimination
based
on
sexual
orientation.
Benkof
also
supports
allowing
gays
to
adopt
children,
but
believes
that
straight
couples
should
be
given
priority
over
gay
couples,
he
said.
"I
have
tremendous
respect
for
the
relationship
choices
and
integrity
of
my
gay
friends,
but
I
also
have
to
say
that
I
think
opposite-sex
relationships
are
in
some
way
better
than
same-sex
relationships,
especially
when
it
comes
to
raising
of
children,"
he
said.
"I
don't
hate
the
sin,
and
I
don't
hate
who
I
was
10
years
ago,"
Benkof
said.
"Gay
sex
is
just
inconsistent
with
traditional
religious
life."
But
others
disagree
with
Benkof's
interpretation
of
the
requirements
of
Jewish
faith.
"I
find
his
version
of
Judaism
to
be
backwards
and
at
odds
with
how
most
American
Jews
think,"
Besen
said.
"Maybe
he
and
Dr.
Laura
can
powwow,
but
the
majority
of
Jews
think
it
is
a
slap
in
the
face
and
an
affront
to
Judaism."
Besen,
who
is
Jewish,
authored
"Anything
but
Straight:
Unmasking
the
Scandals
and
Lies
Behind
the
Ex-Gay
Myth,"
released
this
year.
Modern
knowledge
of
psychology,
sociology
and
history
has
changed
the
role
of
women
in
mainstream
Judaism
and
should
be
considered
when
examining
gays,
according
to
Rabbi
Joshua
Lesser,
leader
of
Congregation
Bet
Haverim,
a
predominately
gay
Reconstructionist
synagogue
in
Atlanta.
"Judaism
has
never
been
an
island
—
it
has
always
shifted
and
changed
in
relationship
to
the
knowledge
of
the
day,"
said
Lesser,
who
is
gay.
"We
...
