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Paul Crouch Jr.

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An openly gay broadcast engineer filed suit last week against Trinity Broadcasting Network and its chief of staff, Paul Crouch Jr., alleging that he was mocked, harassed and eventually fired for being a homosexual, according to court papers.

In a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court on Jan. 22, Brian Dugger alleged that Crouch—who runs the world’s largest religious broadcasting network for his aging parents, Paul Sr. and Jan—told him to quit being “gay,” sent him pornographic photos (including ones of transsexual genitalia), and explained upon his firing that TBN was “not a place for fairies.”

Dugger, who worked with TBN from 1993 to 2006 and as an independent contractor until 2007, is asking for $2.6 million in damages.

This isn’t the first time a gay-themed controversy has hit TBN. In 2004, I reported in the Los Angeles Times that Paul Crouch Sr. paid $425,000 to keep quiet allegations of a gay tryst involving an employee and him. Crouch Sr. denied having the sexual encounter. Here’s the top of the story:

Paul Crouch Sr.

Televangelist Paul Crouch, founder of the world’s largest Christian broadcasting network, has waged a fierce legal battle to prevent a former employee from publicizing allegations that he and Crouch had a sexual encounter eight years ago.

Crouch, 70, is the president of Trinity Broadcasting Network, based in Orange County, whose Christian programming reaches millions of viewers around the world via satellite, cable and broadcast stations.

The source of the allegations against him is Enoch Lonnie Ford, who met Crouch at a TBN-affiliated drug treatment center in 1991 and later went to work for the ministry.

After Ford threatened to sue TBN in 1998, claiming that he had been unjustly fired, Crouch reached a $425,000 settlement with him. In return, Ford agreed, among other things, not to discuss his claim about a sexual encounter with the TV preacher.

In his lawsuit, Dugger said the harassment began in 2001 when he transferred from TBN’s Nashville facilities to the network’s studios in Costa Mesa and Tustin. He alleged TBN employees in Orange County “became aware of his homosexuality and the close relationship with Paul Crouch, Sr.” and “was continuously harassed, mocked, taunted by Crouch Jr. and told not to look gay” and act more “straight.”

Dugger also alleged that Crouch Jr. mocked him for having a “mangina,” a term others in the studio started to use. Dugger said the incident was recorded on videotape, according to the lawsuit.

Dugger claims in the suit that he was forced in 2006 to work as an independent contractor, alleging that it was a sham designed to make it easier for TBN to fire him.

I haven’t heard from TBN officials, but I can guess at their response. First, Dugger is a disgruntled ex-employee. Second, his allegations are groundless. And third, a religious organization can discriminate against homosexuals.

A few thoughts: If the allegations are true, it’s a real disappointment. Though he has his flaws (don’t we all?), Crouch Jr. has done a lot to bring TBN into the 21st century in both programming and attitude.

Under his leadership, the network has started to shift away from the older, big-haired preachers and turned to better quality programming (it still has a long ways to go, but at least it’s a start). The main set itself now looks like a late-night talk show instead of the gaudy, gold-and-red-velvet, French whorehouse feel of the old set.

The TBN still relies heavily on the prosperity gospel, which takes advantage of the poor and desperate (while the network’s debt free and has hundreds of millions in assets and a hefty profit each year). But the pitch seems a little more subtle and less crazy.

And while Crouch Jr. lives an affluent life, he’s a pauper compared to his parents who spent ministry money like an Arab prince. You can read my Los Angeles Times investigative stories on the Crouches’ lifestyle and reliance on the prosperity gospel here and here. You can also read here about how Jan and Paul’s second son Matt lives like a movie tycoon backed by TBN ministry money that helped pay for his Christian films, which have lost tens of millions of dollars.

P.S. I’ve reported on TBN for many years now, and there always seems to be plenty going on behind the scenes. If you have some information you’d like to see in print, . Thanks!