By: David Rice Re: Robertson's hate VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (ITN) A jailed gay minister who wa

By: David Rice
Re: Robertson's hate

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (ITN) * A jailed gay minister who was
fasting to get a meeting with Pat Robertson got his wish
Wednesday when the religious broadcaster stopped by to
discuss homosexuality and drop trespassing charges.

Mel White, a former ghost writer for Robertson, was released
less than an hour after the nighttime meeting, officials
said. He was arrested Feb. 15 after refusing to leave
"Christian" Broadcasting Network property.

White had told his supporters not to post the $1,000 bond.
The minister had been fasting for more than three weeks to
pressure Robertson into the meeting. He believes Robertson's
views fuel intolerance against gays.

During the meeting, Robertson said he condemned violence
against gays and rejected White's views that his comments
cause the violence. He also 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 gave White.

Robertson, chairman of the Virginia Beach-based CBN, said
White's parents had asked for the visit.

During the fast, White took only a cup of milk in the
morning, a cup of Tang in the evening and water. CBN
officials had called the fast and voluntary jail stint 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
homosexuals.