Oklahoma Baptist Pastor Steve Kern, husband of notorious Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern, reportedly believes gay Americans should be incarcerated and forcibly “cured.”

“We have to get rid of that and start curing those sinners. It’ past time that this nation stopped placating sin and start putting them in education programs. Courts can force drug offenders into treatment centers and violent people into anger management. There’ no reason our courts can’t do that with homos.”

While he builds support among ex-gay activists for arrest and involuntary quack medical treatments, Kern in the meantime is said by the Gossip Boy blog to be teaming up with Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett to rid the city’s public libraries of accurate health, scientific, and therapeutic information about sexual orientation. According to James Miko and Wayne Fuller, the pair plan a campaign to “rid the library system of all gay and lesbian materials, as well as those their church-based philosophies find objectionable.”

Their goals:

Win the 2010 governor’s race and gain power at any cost

Deprive Oklahoma families of any information that might help them accurately and constructively understand gay family members

Censor information that exposes the persistent failure of ex-gay programs to “change” their participants’ sexual orientation

Use government power and taxpayer money to enrich corrupt ex-gay quacks from Exodus International and NARTH, the religious-rightist reparative-therapy lobby.



According to Gossip Boy:

A source close to Cornett alleges, “The Mayor is looking to become Oklahoma’ next governor in 2010. With the conservatism rampant in the state, he feels now is the time to fully side with fundamentalist Christians in order to get their backing. He believes one way of doing that is going on an all-out assault on gay citizens. Even if things are done that would later be overturned in court at a great cost to the City, he will walk away a hero to certain people.” The insider also stated, “The Mayor is aware that Ernest Istook is returning to Oklahoma to join the governor’ race again. Istook has the conservative base locked in, so the Mayor must shake loose Istook supporters if he is to get past the Republican primary. Gays are easy targets for him. He tried to use them in 2006, but it backfired. This round he wants to make it clear he is without a doubt against gay rights.” Gossip Boy received other tips regarding Cornett’ ambitions and the scheme to appease Christian extremists, who sided against him in the 2006 race for 5th District Congress, and began a covert ploy to expose it. A reporter posed as a citizen working with the Mayor to push gay and lesbian literature out of city libraries and contacted Steve Kern.

Cornett and Kern seek to sacrifice the safety, health, and livelihood of gay Oklahomans and their families so that Cornett can win an election as a far-right Republican alternative to the conservative Republican former Rep. Ernest Istook.

Exodus International and NARTH have thus far declined to speak out against this alliance. Exodus has three member activists in Oklahoma: Lewis E. Palmer, Chuck McConkey, and Stephen Black. Black has previously promoted Sally Kern’s hate campaign against gay Oklahomans.

Instead of leading constructive action to preserve Exodus’ credibility and defend freedom, Exodus executive vice president Randy Thomas has fueled support for extremist antigay action by parroting unsubstantiated and false accusations of widespread violence at 300 peaceful gay protests which were held by thousands of gay couples and their friends on behalf of the freedom to marry. At a time when persons perceived to be gay or lesbian face rising violence from right-wing extremists, Thomas seems determined to fuel misdirected public fear, anger and mob retribution against same-sex-attracted persons.

Thomas’ objectives seem clear:

Distract the public from his movement’s political efforts to undermine non-fundamentalist Americans’ individual and religious freedoms

Distract public attention from his movement’s deceitful and illegal activities against voters during election-season campaigns to constitutionally abolish the freedom to marry

Generate public pity for ex-gay political activists who are thwarted in their efforts to achieve the goal of “freedom from” homosexual persons, “freedom from” religious minorities, and freedom from personal responsibility by having one’s religious and sexual values dictated by fundamentalist government officials.

Hat tip: Joe.My.God, Box Turtle Bulletin