Source: Tulsa World, Oklahoman

Kern's anti-gay rant

OR senator, 'phobe

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Advocates of gay and lesbian rights came to the Capitol in force Tuesday in hopes of meeting with Rep. Sally Kern, but they were told that the lawmaker who called homosexuality worse than "terrorists and Islam" was nowhere to be found.

About 300 people gathered to protest Kern's recent comments, which ended up on YouTube and drew national attention. [see video of rally from The Oklahoman at the bottom of this post]

Robin Meyers, senior minister at Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City, said Kern's homophobic comments are a "national embarrassment for Oklahoma."

"It is frightening to me that Sally Kern is an elected official doing the people's business," he said.

The Rev. Jim Shields, a retired United Methodist minister who lives in Kern's district that covers parts of west Oklahoma City and Bethany, called on the Republican legislator to hold meetings in the district to talk with gays and Muslims.

Shields said he went by her office to invite the lawmaker to the rally.

An assistant told him that Kern had "left for the day because she did not have any committee meetings," Tulsa World reports. The House adjourned about 10 a.m. after a one-hour session; she, as did many House members, left a short time later.

Kern told Tulsa World that she would be willing to meet next week with two or three people representing the gay and lesbian community.

"I'd have no problem meeting with them next week when I have my lawyer," she said.
Kern said she is working with a lawyer from the Thomas More Law Center based in Ann Arbor, Mich. The center, described as a conservative Christian center, has offices throughout the country.

Kern said Tuesday morning, before the rally that she may tone down the rhetoric, according to the Oklahoman newspaper.

Kern has acknowledged she called homosexuality "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam.” during a speech she gave earlier this year to a Republican club in Oklahoma City. She hasn't given any speeches since excerpts of her speech were posted on the YouTube Internet site, but she said she would talk again if asked about the strategy that backers of gay rights are using to defeat conservatives.

"The message of my speech would not change,” she said. "I might use different analogies.

"Just the fact that you're talking about an agenda that someone has does not mean that you hate them,” Kern said.

During the rally at the state Capitol, Rob Howard, executive director of the Cimarron Alliance Foundation, called on Kern to apologize.

"Hateful speech leads to hate crimes just as surely as the sun rises in the morning,” he said.

Meyers, the Oklahoma City minister, called on House Speaker Chris Benge and Gov. Brad Henry to condemn Kern.

"I call upon Kern to apologize to all of us," he said.

Meyers asserted that Kern's words were hate speech. He noted that she had compared homosexuality to "cancer of the toe," saying that it had to be eradicated.

Tuesday's rally was planned by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, as well as Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.

If Kern doesn't apologize or hold public discussions, then she should resign, said the Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards, assistant pastor of the Open Arms United Church of Christ and president of the Oklahoma City chapter of PFLAG.

"If she does that, she shows good will and good faith; if she doesn't, we think she's ignoring us and we think that what she's done is just deplorable and she ought to resign as a public person,” Newton-Edwards said.

Conna Wilkinson said she attended as a mother who discovered that her daughter was a lesbian, emphasizing that sexual orientation is not a choice someone makes.

"In sixth grade, she cried herself to sleep," Wilkinson said of her daughter.

Luckily, she said, her daughter did not commit suicide or run away.

"Do you think people choose to be gay? Why would you?" she asked.

An assistant said Kern would have no comment on the requests made of her during the rally until she has a chance to read written statements that were left at her office, Kern's legislative assistant said.

No state representatives were seen at the rally. Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, watched for a while from the second floor.

Asked in a telephone interview what she thought about the rally, Kern told The Oklahoman: "I think it's great. They're exercising their First Amendment rights. I have no problem with it.”  

NewsOK.tv video of capitol rally in Oklahoma City

Full article: Anti-gay remarks draw call to action | NewsOK.com
Advocates of gay rights stage protest | Tulsa World