Leo Greenlees,

by Kiwi 46 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Kiwi

  I seem to remember something on the board about Leo Greenlees being removed from Bethel & the GB. Can anyone give me information about this. Is he still allive and where?
• 

  Liberated

  Leo Greenlees was on the gb when Ray Franz was and is now deceased.
  I don't know about his being removed from Bethel.
• 

  outnfree

  Leo Greenlees was a member of the GB, elected as a director of the NY Society around 1965, and is rumoured to have been removed because of his sexuality (gay). A search of the 1997 WT CD-ROM makes no mention of him in any publications after 1984 when he spoke to a group of friends getting a preview of the program that would be held the following day for the graduating class of Gilead.

  I have no information as to whether or not he is alive or dead or where he is living. Perhaps others can help?

  It is my understanding that Brother Greenlees was never disfellowshipped from the organization, merely removed from the GB.
  (Now that I'm thinking about it, there may be something further on http:\\www.freeminds.org if you search.)

  outnfree
• 

  AlanF

  Leo Greenlees was forced out of Bethel in 1984 for practicing pedophilia. Seems he was fooling around with a ten year old boy, got caught, and the parents complained to the Society. After a Governing Body session, Greenlees was told to get out. He ended up in some congregation and died a few years later, sometime in the late 1980s.

  Ironically, the molested boy applied for Bethel service in the early 1990s, but was turned down because certain officials thought that he'd be too much of a source of information about Greenlees' perversion. No sense taking a chance on digging up that can of worms, eh?

  The situation begs for clarification. Clearly, if Greenlees was caught molesting a young boy once, he must have done it before and must have molested plenty of other young boys over the years, because that's how molesters operate. The questions proliferate. Why didn't parents come forward before 1984? Why didn't elders who must have known something come forward and protect these children? Why did the GB not disfellowship Greenlees instead of simply removing him to some local congregation where he lived out his days unknown as a pervert? Clearly, Greenlees had committed fornication, so how did he get out of punishment for that?

  These questions are extremely relevant to the current situation where the Society has been accused by William Bowen and plenty of victims of gross negligence and mishandling of child molestation. Is their negligence traceable simply to being overly focused on their 'preaching work'? Or does it have more sinister implications, such as a desire to cover up gross sexual immorality on the part of other Watchtower officials? I have little doubt that the coming Dateline TV program on JWs' mishandling of child molestation will provoke enough action by interested parties to shed more light on Greenlees and related things.

  AlanF
• 

  TR

  The Leo Greenlees incident is the epitome of how the WTS has typically handled pedophilia cases. They could have made an example of Greenlees for the the rank and file JW's, but no, they swept him under the carpet to save face. This is similar to what the RCC has done. Now, we know how the WTS feels about the RCC, don't we?

  TR

  "cults suck"
• 

  SanFranciscoJim

  Here is an account of Leo Greenlees written by someone who knew him personally. I also personally know the author of this article and have every reason to believe it is 100% true.
  * http://www.geocities.com/commonbondeast/nyc/bethel.html
  -------------------------------------------------------
  "At one time I thought that perhaps I was the only gay Jehovah's Witness in Canada, perhaps the world. This was not unusual, as most gay/lesbian Jehovah's Witnesses feel the same way. There is a conspiracy of silence on the subject, since these things were "not to be even mentioned" by a good Christian.

  Percy Chapman and his companion Leo Greenlees were sent by Rutherford from London Bethel in 1936 to replace the rebel Canadian Branch Overseer, Walter Salter, who had started up his own group over the "elected elders" debacle. Percy was a mesmerizing public speaker of the old school (no voice amplification required) and with his Lancashire lilt of voice reminded me of Winston Churchill, flapping jowls and all. I can still remember the reverberating vibrato of his voice warning of the "vile depths of the abominations" and since I knew that homosexuality was "an abomination unto the lord" wondered if that was what he was referring to. It was not until later that I began to suspect the administration at Bethel was mainly gay.

  I remember the shock at a district assembly in 1959 at Halifax, Nova Scotia where Percy Chapman, then the branch overseer of Canada was to give the main talk. Suddenly who should appear to replace him, but Brother Knorr, the President from New York. Percy Chapman just disappeared from sight. Later we found out that Brother Knorr had removed all responsibilities from Percy but allowed him to remain at Bethel in Toronto as a janitor. The next shock was that Percy Chapman was forced to be married. Percy, following the Rutherford line, was totally anti- marriage and he made sure that none of the "Bethel boys" even contemplated the subject with very strict rules and early curfews. The only way a bethel boy could see another sister would be to go on a Bible study with her. My parents started studying in 1945 with a beautiful young pioneer sister named Joyce Randall and every week there would be a new Bethel boy accompanying her. She later was sent to Gilead and posted in Peru, totally isolated, only to be seduced by a latin lover. Of course she was disfellowshipped and sent home in disgrace. But my family did get to know a lot of Bethel boys. They were all young and handsome, hand-picked by Percy Chapman; there was even an elite group known as "Percy's boys" who would accompany him to expensive restaurants and bars and receive other favours. At the time, Bethel was on Irwin Avenue, now (although replaced by a condominium) in the centre of the gay district of Toronto. There was even a Kingdom Hall above "the Parkside", one of Toronto's few gay bars in the fifties and sixties.

  Poor Leo Greenlees, Percy's close companion for three decades even when at London Bethel, had to find himself a new room-mate. Leo was a cheerful, likable fellow, with his thick Scottish brogue and also an electrifying public speaker. He was very open about his homosexuality to those few good-looking young brothers like those he would meet at one of the summer resorts in Haliburton run by Jehovah's Witnesses (later bequeathed to the Watchtower Society). I got to know Leo a little better when he was assigned to be congregation overseer at the Kingdom Hall I attended as a teenager during the early sixties in Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto. He would bring along another bethel boy, Lorne Bridle, who was very good looking and charming. After a failed marriage to a young pioneer sister, he eventually committed suicide. I often wondered what tortured state of mind led him to that - but so often the fate of closeted gays in the Watchtower society!

  But Leo was soon to be promoted to Brooklyn Bethel, where he became the Treasurer of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and one of the elite governing body. He managed to escape the witch-hunt at Brooklyn Bethel in the early seventies when dozens of Bethel boys were disfellowshipped after learning of their midnight trysts in the sauna in Brooklyn bethel. There was for a short period in the late sixties and early seventies a marked liberalization of attitudes among the governing body. But this suddenly ended, culminating with a power struggle and the disfellowshipping of Raymond Franz, a member of the governing body who was a free-thinker and had written the "Truth" book and chaired the writing of the almost scholarly "Aid to Bible Understanding". Both books, interestingly have joined the list of publications that you would think never existed according to the Watchtower society, although the "Truth" book had the largest printing, next to the Bible, of any book in the world.

  It as not until a few years ago that I learned Leo Greenlees had been found out and was removed from the Governing Body for being gay. The last I heard as that he was sent to San Diego where he died not too long ago. As far as I know he was never disfellowshipped, nor can I corroborate any real seductions. Another member of the GB, Chitty who was also removed from Brooklyn Bethel for the same reason and sent away to London, England, I understand."
• 

  Had Enough

  Hi SanFranciscoJim:

  Thanks for the added info on Leo Greenlees. I tried to post a reply to AlanF asking for proof of the details he gave us, but for some reason I was unable to post or access any of the topics again after I read it this morning. It was like my computor was frozen and stopped counting any new posts past 10:46 am. (I wish I knew why it does that-3 tims in the past month and half)

  Anyway, I only wanted details, if possible, of where his facts came from since if I ever have the opportunity to discuss this with my still-active family, once the rest of the lid is off the whole pedophilia story for the general r&f who are kept in the dark, I want to be able to present provable facts. I don't want the issue to be disregarded by them as only heresay and gossip since some of the older members of my family and friends remember Percy and Leo and Chitty (being close to the Toronto Bethel) and would never believe these things without the info being sure.

  Thanks again for your input.

  Had Enough
• 

  JT

  I was sitting in Lower dinner that morning when the Bro Potzger the German member of the GB at that time who has since passed made the anoucnement to the bethel family

  i recall his comments like they were yesterday'

  "This is to inform the bethel family that Leo Greenless is no longer a member of the bethel family and THE MATTER IS CLOSED"

  NOW IF there are any bethlites who were there that morning i'm sure they too can comment on the spirit that sweep thru the dining rooms that AM

  after the prayer and on the way to work it was sorta of a sick feeling for no one really wanted to ask or say anything about it

  so during the day no one one would really ask the question that was on the minds of everyone:

  "What in the Hell happened" looking back now i can see clearly why

  the fear that jw live under is much like that in all congo when someone is kicked out

  no one wants to aske the ovious question

  how sad

  James
• 

  SanFranciscoJim

  HadEnough, email me privately and I'll be happy to put you in touch with the author of the article.
• 

  JAVA

  Alan & Jim,

  Really appreciate your posts on Greenlees. Thanks for taking the time of pulling it together. The two posts complement each other nicely.

  JT, I forgot to add a "thanks" for giving the insights the Brooklyn boys felt when Greenlees was dropped from the GB.

  --JAVA

  ...counting time at the Coffee Shop