Legislator's anti-gay words draw national focus
State legislator's anti-gay words draw national focus
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By Michael McNutt
Published: March 11, 2008
Rep. Sally Kern says she does not plan to apologize for comments in which she calls homosexuality "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam.”
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300,000 have played audio on Web site
Chuck Wolfe, president of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a nonpartisan group in Washington that supports gay elected officials, said Monday his organization received audio with Kern's comments a couple of weeks ago. She made the remarks during a GOP gathering that was open to the public in Oklahoma County, he said. He could not recall more specifics.
On the audio clipping, Kern can be heard saying the homosexual lifestyle "has deadly consequences for those people involved in it.”
"It is not a lifestyle that is not good for this nation. No society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades,” she said.
Wolfe said the Victory Fund posted the comments on its Web site Friday; more than 300,000 have played the clip by Monday afternoon.
"I was stunned and outraged,” Wolfe said. Equating terrorism with homosexuality "is just hate speech,” he said.
The Cimarron Alliance Foundation, which posted the audio clipping on its Web site Monday, also issued a posting asking people not to send hate mail to Kern. Kern said she has received more than 7,000 critical e-mails and hundreds of angry telephone calls.
‘A higher calling'
Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth, who is openly gay, said America has room for diverse people and opinions.
"But I also think a public official has a higher calling then to pursue divisions and demagoguery,” Roth said. "As a public official I've taken an oath to serve 100 percent of our citizens and I regret that Representative Kern doesn't show the same respect for 100 percent of her constituents.”
Roth said comparing a "homosexual agenda” to terrorism is especially offensive.
"Her outlandish comparison to the pain that terrorists cause demonstrates how her focus is skewed by her own bias,” Roth said.
Contributing: Staff Writer Bryan Dean
Related Topics:
U.S. State Government, U.S. Government, Culture and Lifestyle, Relationships, Special Interest Groups, War and Conflict, Terrorism, GLBT Issues, Sexuality
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God created me Gay! I know this because I would never choose to live a life where others hurl hurtful insults at me! They call themselves the voice of “true family values”, then condemn anyone in their family who does not mirror themselves…what HIPOCRITES! They don’t trust God’s reason for creating Gay’s. They choose to destroy and attack instead! From my perspective they are UGLY, HATEFUL, PEOPLE, who force their Gay family members to cower and hide in the closet, or try to brainwash them into being other than what God created them to be. They are the true ABUSERS of children! Their hurtful, judgmental words cause deep wounds in Gay children (especially their own), and push them to drugs, alcohol, or possible suicide! It really pisses me off…but I need to remember what Jesus would do … I pray DEEPLY, that Kern and others who feel they are holier than me because they were born straight, REAP WHAT THEY SOW… TENFOLD!
As one who follows Jesus, I suggest we all work TOGETHER and use each other’s strengths to heal hunger and suffering in the world.