I am sorry, I have to say something here. You have no documented PROOF this man is gay. I am appalled that you would post this. He is a man who does 'stories'. This does not mean he is gay.

Let me give you an example: Ann Rule ONLY writes about killer's. Does that automatically put her in the 'killer' mode? She may be, as far as I know, since nothing has come to light one way or the other.

I think that people have a niche in their writings sometimes that is so far out of their arena of thinking that it becomes a curious thing to them. If that person is a writer they tend to write about it in a way that adds flavour to the subject.To me it is the "wow, how could this happen" (?) thing that makes their writings so unique.

I would not judge this man because of the things he writes about. IMHO

I'm going to dig into this a bit futher. I'll see what I can find out and WILL bring pressure to bear if need be. He's shown a weakness....it should be exploited. Sorry.

I don't think Danny is saying the guy is evil because he is gay..I think the reason it is significant is because he is gay and doing a PRO JW documentary...it is a bit ironic, don't you think?

Doesn't bother me in the least, really.

I think people have misunderstood what I was saying here. I just felt that just by the numbers of stories he has reported on does not necessarily make him gay. He could be as far as I know.

I was not trying to attack, I guess I was just saying....without proof this is hard to prove JUST BECAUSE most of his stories are about gays.

I would be interested in finding out if he is truly gay or not. It certainly would put a bigger spin on this whole thing.

To you Danny, if I offended you I am truly sorry. I just felt like there was not enough solid evidence to prove the point. I have been the brunt of, and have seen many others in the same boat based on circumstantial evidence. Not a good place to be, IMHO.

I hope he is gay and that it becomes widely known. That might help the thousands of gay JW children and adolescents in the organisation see firsthand that being gay is not a mental illness or death sentence and that gays lead very normal and productive lives. steve2

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"-cheers to all.

Hey EF did you manage to find anything.

I too find it interesting that he has been involved in the production of multiple gay documentaries and is now doing one for JW's... It's ironic really.

EF had a hissy fit and stopped posting here.  You'll find him on JWC.

Danny

Great bit of research!

URL: http://www.hepb.org/pdf/hepbnews36.pdf and http://www.hepb.org/patients/personal_stories_know.htm

Personal Stories: Dying to Know

Published in the Hepatitis B Foundation newsletter B Informed (Winter 2003)

Tragic End for Young American Asian Doctor

with Hepatitis B

By Joel P. Engardio 

Dr. Mark Lim (left) and author, May 1, 2001 (photo courtesy of J. Engardio).

From our table at a sidewalk cafe in August 2000, my partner Mark and I took turns pointing out things that made us smile. Our mood was sublime, like the day, as we headed to an open-air jazz festival. Until a sharp stomach pain made Mark wince and double over. Was it the ulcer he feared? At 30, Mark Lim was a young doctor saddled with debt and the challenge of building a career after eight sleepless years of medical school and training.

Mark didn't have an ulcer. An ultrasound of his abdomen showed an ominously patchy liver. A biopsy confirmed the worst: cancer. His liver was riddled with so many out-of-control cancerous lesions that neither surgery nor transplant was possible. Chemotherapy would only slow his inevitable, insufferable demise 14 months later. But the question remained, how did such an otherwise perfectly healthy young man, who had a gym-toned body and never drank, end up with the organ of a hard-living alcoholic twice his age? The answer was chronic hepatitis B, a virus that can silently harbor in a healthy liver for decades before unleashing its destructive power.

Mark knew about his hepatitis. He discovered it from blood tests required by his medical internship. But experts at the prestigious Midwestern hospital where Mark did his residency told the 26-year-old not to worry. He was a "healthy" carrier, they said. His symptom-free kind of hepatitis wouldn't have to be monitored for liver cancer until he was in his 50s or 60s. Good advice, if Mark were not an Asian man. Had he or his doctors been trained to know that Asians are at accelerated risk because they are typically infected as children, he would have immediately gotten regular ultrasounds and blood tests to catch the cancer that killed him at 31.

Liver cancer is rampant in Asia. The main culprit is chronic hepatitis B, a virus transmitted by blood or semen. Exposure to it at childbirth is the real problem, because that's when the risk of chronic or lifelong infection is greatest. Since it can take 30 years to manifest, all adult children of Asian immigrants -- even those born in the United States -- are at risk.

 

Before Mark died last October, he became a spokesperson for the Jade Ribbon Campaign, urging all Asians to check their hepatitis status. As a doctor -- and a victim -- Mark felt it was his duty to speak up about what has become the greatest health disparity between Asians and Caucasians. He was moved not only to fight the disease that was killing him, but to wipe out the ignorance that had allowed the problem to get so out of hand. Jade Ribbon is just one voice trying to sound the alarm of a health crisis to come.

Confronting his own mortality wasn't easy for him. "It's scary to think of your life in months, instead of years," he told me as his death approached, our dreams of that day at the sidewalk cafe shattered. His life was so short, and his death so horrible.

Mark was dedicated to saving lives as a doctor. He can't do that anymore, but his story can. In the end, the most he could do was hope his words might inspire his medical colleagues to offer -- and his Asian peers to seek -- the information that can save thousands like him from his fate. If only they listen.

Excerpted from articles by Joel Engardio that were originally printed in the San Francisco Weekly 5/1/02 and San Francisco Chronicle 1/3/03.

Editor’s Note: The Hepatitis B Foundation thanks Joel Engardio for graciously sharing his story so that others can learn from Mark Lim’s tragic death: it is important that those who may be at high risk for hepatitis B are tested as soon as possible. Re-testing may be necessary. Be sure to ask for copies of all hepatitis B blood tests and confirm the results with your doctor.

For further assistance, please feel free to email the Hepatitis B Foundation at info@hepb.org

or call 215-489-4900

*******************************

This is, as DH said, 'background information' - perhaps useful in reasonably framing your anticipation of Mr. Engardio's perspective (to be revealed in the final edited programme).  I wouldn't act in haste to condemn or denigrate the piece before it has been viewed.  Why?  See how the following website ["The Masonic Connection of the Watchtower II"] demonstrates Mr. Engardio's earlier reportage on the state of JW doctrine (http://www.cephasministry.com/masonic_connection_of_the_watchtower_2.html):

The  biggest  change in doctrine in decades (no  more "1914 generation")  is having an effect on many Witnesses,  though  the Watchtower  would not tell you that. The L.A.  Times  (S.F.Valley edition) ran an article on the change recently, and the Newsweek of  November 18,1995 featured an article  entitled,  "Apocalypse Later."  Newsweek magazine - December 18, 1995, p.59, Religion section.  Article by Kenneth L. Woodard, with Joel  P.  Engardio.. Title: Apocalypse Later. Subtitle: Jehovah's Witnesses decide the end, "THE THIRD MILLENNIUM, is just four years away, and you'd think that Jehovah's Witnesses would be ecstatic. Ever since the movement's inception  in  the 1870s,  the Witnesses have insisted that the world, as we know it, is about to end. According to their unique "Biblical" calculations, the  countdown to Armageddon commenced in 1914 - the first world war was a major sign - and Christ would establish his  millennial kingdom  on earth "before the generation who saw the  events  of 1914, passes away." For countless Witnesses, this prediction  was good  reason not to save money, start a career or make burial plans.  As one of their leaders famously preached in 1918:  "Millions now living will never die."

"Now, it seems, all millennial bets are off. In last month's issue of The Watchtower, the sect's leaders quietly acknowledged that Jesus was right in the first place, when he said  that  "noone knows the day or the hour." All previous references to  timetables  for Armageddon, the magazine now suggests, were  speculation rather than settled doctrine. The year 1914 still marks  the beginning of the last days. But those who hoped to witness the battle of Armageddon and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth will have to wait. Henceforth, any generation that experiences such calamities as war and plagues like AIDS could be the one to witness the end times. In short, the increasingly  middleclass Witnesses would do well to buy life insurance."

************

It appears that Mr. Engardio is capable of producing an unbiased report on some aspect JW-life.  He simply may choose not to reveal his hand too early in the 'game'.  How else to secure the trust and cooperation of potentially hostile suspicious participants?

Just food for thought. - V.

good point valkyrie...

Hmmm, well, that sort of clinches it...

Straight guys don't really call their male friends "my partner".

DazedAndConfused, I see your point, but disagree somewhat. People should be judged by what they write. Why would anyone think otherwise? How could I take a journalist or author seriously if they refused to be judged based upon their writing? It just makes no sense to me.

That being said, while Anne Rule may write only about killers and yet not be a killer herself, how many heterosexual men do you find who only write about homosexual issues? Somehow, I suspect there are not any...

I think the interesting point here is that a gay person, who was raised a Jehovah's Witness, and therefore knows the societies teachings on homosexuality, is allowed to film inside HQ.

As to whether homosexuality is good / bad is completely besides the point.

steve 

"preponderance of the evidence"

by WT standards they would not cooperate with him,  the guy affirms otherwise,

despite that gay are very creative tv producers

gay? OMFG - run everyone - RUN!

http://www.jmcommunications.com/wlog/2006/10/documentary_about_jehovahs_wit.html



It seems that both engardio and shepard are gay, but it is perhaps now an old news ?



Bye



Charles