Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
``How can we prove our sincerity unless we are willing to die?'' he said Wednesday from his jail cell.
White has been fasting for 17 days, taking only a cup of milk in the morning, a cup of Tang in the evening and water.
Officials at Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network - where White once served as Robertson's ghost writer and a ``700 Club'' guest - call his fast and voluntary jail stint a ``publicity stunt'' and a ``desperate media campaign.'' They say White is trying to increase his prominence as a gay leader and sell his autobiography.
``Mel White has always had control over when Mel White leaves the jail. It's not Pat Robertson who has control,'' said Robertson's spokesman, Gene Kapp. ``He is attempting to use intimidation, I guess that would be the word, to impose a meeting.''
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, a leader in the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Community Church, a 32,000-member Christian denomination for gays and lesbians, was arrested two weeks ago on trespassing charges when he sought to meet with Robertson at CBN. He has told his supporters not to post the $1,000 bond and free him.
Robertson wrote White a letter last month refusing to meet with him. Robertson, who condemns homosexuality as a sin, nonetheless wrote in the letter that the Bible directs him to ``have love in my heart toward homosexual and lesbian people.''
White has lost 11 pounds from his 6-foot frame and now weighs 159 pounds, he said. Nurses come to his solitary confinement cell daily to check his weight and blood pressure. White, 54, said he has dizzy spells and cramps but still feels strong enough to exercise each morning.
by CNB