Timeline is a regular feature in each issue looking back to events and milestones that have helped us evolve into the community we are today.

August 2000

Guest writer Francesca Miller got an ear full when she sat down for a question and answer session with Tammy Faye about the documentary film which captured the former religious icon’s life. “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” was the queen of mascara’s tell-all account of life with Jim Bakker, the threat of prison and the bad blood that once existed between her and the Rev. Jerry Fallwell.

Best remembered as Tammy Faye Bakker, replete with flamboyant hair styles and mascara-laden eye lashes, Tammy and her then-husband Jim Bakker reached global audiences with their Evangelical show called Praise The Lord. The holier-than-thou pair welcomed everyone—blacks and whites, gays and straights, the young and old. During her televised program, Tammy professed her love to all of God’s children. Her kindness and sincerity endeared her to millions of viewers. But not even her popularity could shadow the controversy that erupted over her husband Jim’s affair with Jessica Hahn and the question of $ 3 million in misappropriated funds.

In her interview with Miller, Faye said that she and Jim never took any money; that Jim trusted his staff, despite Faye’s warnings that something shady was going on. “He wanted to believe that he hired good people and everything was going the way it was supposed to go. He didn’t want to hear beyond that,” Tammy said of Jim. Together, Tammy and Jim raised more than $ 158 million from viewers and followers. Funds, she says, which were donated back into the ministry.

Faye also confessed to Miller that both she and Hahn had spoken of the affair when Faye was doing a radio show and Hahn called in.  On air, the two women began to cry, with Faye telling Hahn she had forgiven her and that it took two consenting adults to have an affair.  Of the Rev. Jerry Fallwell, whom she admitted to forgiving as well, Faye noted that her support of the gay community could have been what triggered a backlash from Fallwell. After all, Fallwell, an anti-gay fanatic protestor, not only spread rumors about Tammy and Jim’s financial dealings, but he also fabricated stories about Jim Bakker being a homosexual.

“Fallwell is very judgmental and he wanted our huge network...he wanted it, and he wanted our mailing list,” Faye explained of Fallwell’s Evangelical envy. Yet she admits, despite his lies, that she would put her arms around Jerry. “...I could but I’d be sobbing my eyes out the entire time and asking, ‘Jerry, why? why.’”

Despite Jim Bakker having spent time in prison, according to Tammy he is still invited to preach at churches all over the country; she is not. “They will never forgive me, yet I was never charged with anything illegal...I have so much to give and I’d love to share it with the world,” said Faye.

Expressing that both she and Jim have been friends for 30 years, Faye said that despite her being remarried, she gets along well with Jim Bakker and that the two will always be friends.