This is despite the fact that background checks were not common practice among any of the community organizations at the time either. On the other hand, certain members of the press vilified the Board and staff, not only for the decision to allow the people in question to remain with Pride, but for not performing criminal background checks on all staff and volunteers in the first place. Furthermore, none of the four had reoffended in the years since. The law is very specific about how that information is allowed to be used and there are protections in place to prevent unwarranted discrimination of those individuals. On the one hand, the individuals who had been discovered to have committed sex offenses in the past via the Meagan’s Law website, had legal rights. It was a balancing act between an individual’s right to privacy and their legal rights against discrimination, the interests of Pride and a community’s desire to know. After consulting with government agencies, including the FBI and the Police, Pride chose to let the four people in question remain with Pride as they were advised that they were not a threat to Pride attendees. When the Pride Board of Directors and staff learned of this, they sought out legal advice. He believed that God would cure him of HIV and had supposedly been cured of his homosexuality.Īfter Hartline’s initial findings were released to the media, it was later found out that another volunteer and one staff member were also registered sex offenders. Hartline was an “ex-gay” crusader with a felony record who spent 20 years in prison and jail and many years immersed in the sex- and drug-culture and who became HIV+ as a result. It was exacerbated by some members of the press who fanned the flames of controversy, dividing the community and doing Hartline’s work for him.
The revelation kick-started a series that engulfed the community and threatened the very foundation of the Pride organization. One of the biggest crises in San Diego Pride’s history took place in 2005 when anti-gay/ex-gay crusader James Hartline released to the press that his research had indicated that two of the volunteers for Pride were registered sex offenders.