Tulsa World: Oklahoma legislator's anti-gay comments stir hostile reaction

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Sunday, November 22, 2009 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Oklahoma legislator's anti-gay comments stir hostile reaction

By TIM TALLEY, Associated Press
Published: 3/10/2008 1:05 PM
Last Modified: 7/23/2008 5:17 PM

Complete coverage: Kern cites support from GOP :: OSBI reading Kern e-mails :: Local gay organization denounces Kern's comments against homosexuality :: Anti-gay remarks blasted :: Kern's son denies reports he is gay

Vote in a poll: Would you sign the petition to have Sally Kern removed from office?

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A Republican member of the Oklahoma Legislature has received death threats since telling a political group that "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation" and poses a bigger threat to the U.S. than terrorism or Islam.

"I'm not gay-bashing. But according to God's word that is not the right kind of lifestyle," Rep. Sally Kern of Oklahoma City said during an appearance before a group of Republicans. Her comments were recorded and posted on the video sharing Web site YouTube on Friday.

"Studies

show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades," Kern says in the recorded comments. "It is not a lifestyle that is good for this nation."

On Monday, Kern said her comments were edited and taken out of context. Kern said they were directed at wealthy, politically active homosexuals who are contributing money to gay and lesbian candidates for public office in Oklahoma and other states.

"I was talking about an agenda. I was not talking about individuals," said Kern, the wife of a Baptist minister. "They have the right to choose that lifestyle. They do not have the right to force it down our throat.

"I have never said hate speech against anybody. I would never do that."

Kern said she has received more than 3,000 e-mails and hundreds of telephone calls since her comments were posted online. She said a few supported her comments but that most condemned them and that some contained death threats and obscenities.

"I hear what you said and you should be killed...," said one.

"You honestly think that homosexuality is a greater threat than terrorism?" said another. "How someone as petulant and vile as yourself got elected to office, I will never understand."

The only openly gay member of the state Legislature, Rep. Al McAffrey, D-Oklahoma City, said Kern's comments have alarmed gay voters in Kern's district and elsewhere in the nation.

"It saddens me that we hear bigotry from our representatives," said McAffrey, who embraced Kern as the two lawmakers discussed her comments about gays in a state Capitol hallway Monday morning.

"There is not a gay agenda," McAffrey told The Associated Press afterward. "There are a lot of people who have money who are willing to support progressive candidates."

McAffrey said he is a father and a grandfather. "And I happen to be gay. I think we need to look at individuals."

In her recorded comments, Kern expressed concern that gay candidates "are winning elections" and control city councils in Arkansas, Maryland and other states.

A former teacher, Kern also said gays are teaching young public school children that their lifestyle is acceptable. "We're not teaching facts and knowledge anymore. We're teaching indoctrination," Kern said.

"We have the gay-straight alliance coming into our schools. Kids are getting involved in these groups, their lives are being ruined," she said. "They are going after our young children, as young as two years of age, to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle.

"This stuff is deadly and it's spreading and it will destroy our young people, it will destroy this nation."

In a response to one e-mail, Kern said she was primarily concerned about "the aggressive movement" to support gay candidates across the nation and in Oklahoma, where a gay candidate is seeking a statewide office.

Jim Roth, a member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission who is openly gay, is seeking a full six-year term on the commission that regulates utilities and the oil and gas industry.

"As a public official I have taken an oath to serve 100 percent of our citizens and I only wish that Representative Kern would honor the same spirit of our democracy," said Roth, a Democrat and former Oklahoma County commissioner who was appointed to the statewide position by Gov. Brad Henry last year.

"My focus is on serving the citizens of Oklahoma, not on responding to the rantings of an angry legislator. We all have a duty to serve all people," Roth said. "The politics of division and demagoguery only steal the future from what our state needs for everyone's sake."

By TIM TALLEY, Associated Press

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Show: Most Recent Comment First

Add your comment

600 comments have been made on this story so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

	Report Comment Tony, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:22:27 PM) I'll take my chances with a society that is open and tolerant over Kern's preference for another Dark Ages.
	Report Comment jack briggs, tulsa (3/10/2008 2:21:13 PM) While she may not have said it the best way, she is more correct than not. She seems to be frustrated with the gay agenda to make this 'lifestyle' more mainstream, and i share her frustration. This should be a private subject - I don't care what gays do in their own bedroom. If they'd quit making headlines out of it and TV shows , they'd have a lot less problem.
	Report Comment DC, (3/10/2008 2:28:39 PM) #14. you indirectly referred to me as a bigot. By definition, the word bigot refers to intolerance and hatred. I do not hate homosexuals. Intolerance means not willing to grant equal rights or freedom of expression. I do not want those who practice homosexuality to have less rights or freedoms. However, I do resist the societal pressures to accept homosexuality as being morally ok. I have that right.
	Report Comment Dawn, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:28:48 PM) Well said Jack! I get so tired of Hollywood pushing the gay agenda down our throats! Every decent show on TV ends up having gay representation - why is that necessary? Now they are even showing them kissing and being intimate. Again, why is that necessary? I usually end up not watching the show anymore once they bring out the gays. I'm not a gay basher and I have friends that are gay, but I also feel that what goes on in the bedroom needs to be left there. My husband and I don't go around pushing our sexuality on people, why do the gays feel that they must do so?
	Report Comment Sally's stinch---, (3/10/2008 2:29:24 PM) Right-O Sally, you farted out of your mouth and spread your stinch from OKC clear across the country. Sally, girl you're a stinker!
	Report Comment "that's colorful", tulsa (3/10/2008 2:30:39 PM) free speech reigns supreme!! get over it people. she had a freakin' opinion and i happen to agree with her that you can be gay if you want but don't shove it down my throat because i will shove back. my son was reprimanded in his class for saying "that's gay". it was not in any reference whatsoever to homos but was in response to something unrelated. some homo chick in class freaked out about it proclaiming that was offensive to her. the teacher told him not to say that. so the next time he used the term "that's colorful" - she freaked out again. proclaiming that he was referring to the rainbow, the symbol for homos. the teacher told him to not use either phrase because unfortunately he has to cater to the homos rights. this was in a political science class. perhaps we should call it politically correct class! those of you that carry on about separation of church and state - that is a myth perpetrated by the liberalist lawyers. the nations capital is built in the shape of the cross. the words "Laus Deo" are inscribed on the washington monument. look it up! i am not even christian but i am not at all offended by christianity being infused into our government whether it be monuments, money, or ritual.
	Report Comment Whatever Jimmy, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:37:49 PM) Jim Roth??? hahahahaha! You didn't even BOTHER to respond when we attempted to contact you to complain about being without power for a week and more recently to complain about AEPPSO billing us "late" charges, when our bill wasn't late but they threw out some excuse "well because of the ice storm we got behind" - whatever! That's their problem. And again when AEPPSO said they wanted to raise our rates. You spew forth your so called promises to "serve the people" - roflmfao! You didn't return one single phone call.
	Report Comment RW, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:20:35 PM) This just adds to the stack of reasons, why people leave Oklahoma. And I can't wait to move.
	Report Comment Lulu, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:19:00 PM) Respecting someone's right to have an opinion in no way equates to condoning that opinion.
	Report Comment SRV, (3/10/2008 2:18:40 PM) Another reason to vote Democrat. Man, I can't wait for these elections. The Democrats are going to pick up house and senate seats as well as the White House! :)
	Report Comment Constitutional Rights Protector, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:12:08 PM) Very well stated "Good Grief". I agree completely!
	Report Comment To #16 - Lulu, (3/10/2008 2:11:11 PM) No one is saying she shouldn't have the right to say what she said - they are saying it's ridiculous hate speech to equate being homosexual (which is not a choice) with terrorism. And she didn't even do that - she said it was worse. Give me a break - if you want to defend that, go ahead. I think the KKK has the right to spew whatever vile racist speech they won't, but that doesn't mean i have to condone it as you apparently think we all need to.
	Report Comment Donald, Dallas (3/10/2008 2:41:42 PM) The only way to handle a situation like this would be to show Ms. Kerns that the citizen will not tolerate hate speech and blurring the lines between church and state. She was sworn in to serve as a representative for ALL the people and to uphold the Constitution and laws of the land, not the Bible. Does anyone know what the recall processes are for a Oklahoma representative?
	Report Comment Good grief, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:09:04 PM) A few things. First, it’s also worth mentioning that she didn’t say radical Islamic terrorists are a danger to our country – she said Islam. That suggests she equates all Muslims with terrorists. Second, thanks to “don’t ask- don’t tell” we have hundreds, if not thousands of gay men and women quietly serving in our armed forces, protecting her right to say what she’s saying. It’s quite ironic that she thinks they’re part of the most dangerous thing in America.
	Report Comment Tell you what #30, (3/10/2008 2:42:42 PM) Think of how you'd respond to someone saying "That's Christian" when they meant something was stupdid, bad, etc. I'm guessing you'd be offended. That's why saying something is gay is wrong. If you can't see that - no wonder you agree with Ms. Kern's hate speech.
	Report Comment Jeanette, Broken Arrow (3/10/2008 2:43:37 PM) If the gay community is shoving it down your throat, what about other lifestyles as in mixed marriages etc. No one is hoving anything down anyones throat. They have just as much right to their beliefs as everyone else. Just cause you do not agree, does not make it wrong or right. ONLY GOD will be the judge of them as he is of all of us. It only bothers one if they let it. I choose to accept everyone as the Bible says and mind my OWN business! Gays are not the only ones making headlines these days. I would much rather see a gay person in the headlines than these Britney Spears and Paris Hiltons!
	Report Comment sally, (3/10/2008 2:46:05 PM) NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, accused in news reports of being involved in a prostitution ring, apologized to his family and the public on Monday at a hastily called news conference. He did not elaborate on the story.
	Report Comment Morgan, (3/10/2008 2:48:06 PM) Wow, she managed to annoy alot of gays, good job.
	Report Comment hrw, tulsa (3/10/2008 2:52:20 PM) HIV, AIDS, HPV and the other sexual diseases became rampant with the discovery that more homosexuals were practicing unsafe, bare-back sex. Then along came those confused ones - bi-sexuals that spread these diseases more so. It is still immoral to pretend to be ignorant, but this disease spread through the homosexual community into the heterolsex group, shame on those perverted sickos, who have made it an international disease. It is still immoral conduct.
	Report Comment Brad, (3/10/2008 2:53:59 PM) REPUBLICANS ARE DESTROYING AMERICA ALOT MORE THAN GAYS!!! Remember how the Nazis tried to blame the Jews and Homosexuals for their problems too!?
	Report Comment rufio, new york (3/10/2008 2:55:36 PM) #1- there is no choice in being gay, just like there is no choice in being straight or bisexual or whatever you are! People like Kern need to grasp this in their TINY idiotic minds. #2- She says that the gays are shoving their beliefs or whatever down her throat when it is so blatantly the opposite! Gays have been oppressed FOREVER and her straight agenda is what has always been & is still being shoved down peoples throats. Some people just need to die or go away or something so civilization can progress.
	Report Comment Ignorance Runs Wild, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:56:51 PM) #1 Hate does NOT equal decent morals. Hate is not a family value, hate is of no value! Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Being "Religious" does not make you a Christian. How you live your life and treat others is what makes you a Christian.
	Report Comment nancy, tulsa (3/10/2008 2:57:37 PM) It's extremely embarrassing that our state elected such close-minded bigots. I just hope everyone realizes that not everyone in Oklahoma feels the same way!
	Report Comment JSea, Tulsa (3/10/2008 2:58:07 PM) In the pursuit of happiness we all will have aspects of one another's lives we do not like or condone (ex. poverty, race or looks) and we make personal decisions based on those criteria everyday. Those who have lived life as a lie regarding their sexuality, have their unhappiness handed to them by others. If one can make a lifestyle decision and be one less frustrated individual in this world, I say give them their chance at happiness.
	Report Comment LoveMyTTown, Tulsa (3/10/2008 3:01:25 PM) ATTENTION ALL ELECTED INDIVIDUALS: Do NOT make blanket statements of any kind on my behalf! I have a brain, I choose to use it! I love my Oklahoma and my Ttown. Don't bring negativity to a wonderful place to live!

25 of 600 comments displayed. | View All

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.