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03/10/2008

Kern: Eschews apology, manages to further offend

by Jeremy Hooper

In response to the audio in which she said, among other things, that gays are more of a threat than terrorists, Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern has issued an official statement. Most offensive part? This quote (highlighting out own):

“ A vigorous debate on an issue is not ‘hate speech’ – it’s free speech. I have made clear my opposition to the agenda of homosexual activists, but I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will. The fact that many gay rights activists claim anyone opposing their agenda is engaging in ‘hate speech’ says more about them than me. "

Yea, Sally? Those who are loudly lashing out against your comment that homosexuality is "the death knell of this nation" are saying more about themselves than they are saying about you? And what is it, exactly, that they are saying about themselves: that they refuse to sit back and let someone compare their lives and loves to an atomic bomb? That they won't allow people to foster the sort of hostility that keeps us all vulnerable? Or simply that they have a better handle on the concept of reality than you do, Ms. Kern? Because all we are hearing, Mr. Kern, are people who are SICK of living in a world where comments like yours get a considerable pass!

Sally dear, you got caught when you thought nobody was listening. And you were caught warning folks that gays will destroy this society. Gay activist aren't claiming everyone who lashes out against gays is engaging in "hate speech." We are claiming that YOU, Sally, have disseminated hate-filled rhetoric! It's fine that you want to try and spin it in your favor. Such in human nature. But don't try and pass the buck, or make it sound like the gays are being nutty by reacting unkindly to you putting a warning label on our existences! You put your homo-hostile thoughts on record, so we are now putting our reactions on the same!! And should the chips fall in your direction? Well that says more about our need to keep fighting for respect than it does the righteousness in your words!

**Full press release after jump:

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Media Division

March 10, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: State Rep. Sally Kern

Capitol: (405) 557-7348



Kern Responds to Activist Criticisms

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) issued the following statement today in response to the criticisms of homosexual activists who have objected to a recent speech she gave on their efforts to promote their agenda at both the federal and state level.

“To put this simply, as a Christian I believe homosexuality is not moral. Obviously, you have the right as an American to choose that lifestyle, but I also have the right to express my views and my fellow Oklahomans have the right to debate these issues.

“In recent years homosexual activists have begun to aggressively promote their agenda through the political process, often providing substantial financing to candidates who agree with their views, including many running for state legislative races. National publications such as Time, The Atlantic and USA Today have noted that trend. That is their right, just as it is my right to voice opposition to their agenda, which I have been asked to do at several public forums in recent months. That’s what democracy is all about. It appears some homosexual activists believe only one group is allowed a voice in this debate. I disagree.

“A vigorous debate on an issue is not ‘hate speech’ – it’s free speech. I have made clear my opposition to the agenda of homosexual activists, but I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will. The fact that many gay rights activists claim anyone opposing their agenda is engaging in ‘hate speech’ says more about them than me.

“Most Oklahomans are socially conservative and believe marriage is a sacred institution, the union of one man and one woman, and that the traditional family is worth protecting and preserving. When I campaigned for office, I promised my constituents to stand up for those values, and I do not apologize for keeping my word.”

Your thoughts

I was waiting for what you would say today Jeremy. I do not think I could say it better than fritz in his video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws--W7Cs5ms

GO TROLLS!

Posted by: LMendoza MD | Mar 10, 2008 4:03:29 PM

I think what some of these right wings people forget is that free speech doesn't equal free pass. No one founding father ever said that people should turn a blind eye to hateful speech. They said that the **government** could not censor a person and prevent them from speaking. However, the founding fathers never said that the "people" couldn't hold someone responsible for that speech. No one is preventing Ms. Kern from making any statements. However, if the people she serves and who she supposedly represents recognize that her speech is hateful, doesn't reflect the values they hold and want to replace her that is their right. We have the right to point out that hateful, if only in our opinion, speech to the world and let them evaluate it. She can then use her free speech to defend her thoughts and her words. But free speech doesn't mean we have to like the speech and remain quiet. We can challenge her on it as long as we don't deny her the right to her own corner in the world to say what she wants. That corner just doesn't necessarily have to be in city council if the voters don't want it to be.

Posted by: Ed | Mar 10, 2008 5:32:02 PM

Exactly, Ed. You have no clue how many emails I receive from people asking why I feel have the right to stifle others' free speech simply because they don't agree with my "lifestyle." It never occurs to them that they have just as much right to start a mirror image website that challenges everything written on here!!

Posted by: G-A-Y | Mar 10, 2008 5:36:48 PM

This woman was airing hate speech, plain and simple - which shouldn't be associated with free speech. It's no different than the KKK ranting about blacks, or neo-Nazi's ranting about Jews. For that matter, each time somebody like this vile bitch makes a speech like this, it should be loudly compared to the anti-Jew propaganda of the Nazi's. Nobody ass-kiss the pruney old skank, because that's exactly what it is.

Posted by: Scott | Mar 10, 2008 5:59:59 PM

LOL thanks for the YouTube laugh, Mendoza. OMG that sounded straight-up trailer park!! Off Topic: call it "trolling" if you want, but here's my latest YouTube creation. Hitler meets the "ex-gays" and their wacko buddies, meets Eric Cartman/Faith Plus 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRKMx7pBUCE Some of you may get a kick out of it LOL ;)

Posted by: Scott | Mar 10, 2008 6:26:07 PM

Her last paragraph is a complete non sequitor, especially considering she was not "debating" SSM but making all encompassing blanklet pronouncements. What is of further concern is that:

(a) She has a B.A., Sociology, University of Texas, 1971; Teacher Certification in Social Studies with an emphasis in Government, East Texas State University, 1986. And that Kern is a teacher by profession.

(b) Rep. Sally Kern, District 84 Republican, serves as Chair on the Social Services Committee, and serves on the Education Committee, Common Education Committe, and Human Services Committee.



Posted by: Stefano A | Mar 10, 2008 6:32:23 PM

When people use the "free speech" argument, I think they are trying to intentionally distract from the issue. Ms. Kerns has every right to say what she feels, but I would like to know where she gets her "facts."

Posted by: a.mcewen | Mar 10, 2008 6:47:53 PM

Might want to correct this: "Gay activist are[n't] claiming everyone who lashes out against gays is engaging in 'hate speech.'" Also, I haven't ready every LGBT organizations responses to this, but did they really use the term "hate speech" or is she just projecting that onto them?

Posted by: GayMormonBoy | Mar 10, 2008 7:30:34 PM

LIVE petition to remover her as an Okie State Rep. NOT flattering for Oklahoma. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/333266961



Posted by: Gerry | Mar 10, 2008 8:06:49 PM

FWIW this creature's career is dust even if some of her constituents agree with her bigotry.

A representative of a city that has been the victim of a terrorist attack just said gay people are worse than terrorism: I'm sure her constituents, even those who agree with her bigoted views, remember the sight of dead children being pulled from the Murrah building.

Posted by: James Probis | Mar 10, 2008 8:35:32 PM

I think the best solution is to remove her in the Republican Party primary. Get a somewhat not as hostile Republican to replace her, the new Republican still may not be as friendly as a Democrat. However the deadline to file is like 2 months from now, but its never too late to start an organization. I tried to find the information for Log Cabin Oklahoma, but their e-mail bounced.

Posted by: Matt from California | Mar 10, 2008 9:03:34 PM

GayMormonBoy: "Also, I haven't ready every LGBT organizations responses to this, but did they really use the term "hate speech" or is she just projecting that onto them?" Local activists as quoted in Oklahoma newspapers and on Oklahoma City television stations KWTV and KSWO as well as others have referred to the speech as "hate speech". GLADD's response referred to the Kern's comments as "hateful and defamatory language." I cannot think of a more accurate description for the mendaciousness of her hyperbolic comments.

Posted by: Stefano A | Mar 10, 2008 9:20:05 PM

This says more about the phobes than anything else:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-7AoxFEJA Hate speech that Silly Sally uses is exactly what causes some people (namely young males) to go out and bash and kill gay people, as well as those who don't fit the traditional stereotype of heterosexuality. Therefore, she should be tried as an accomplice to murder for any and all bashings and murders of gay people that take place in the future. She has blood on her hands, and I guarantee that there are young males out there who have heard what she's said and have filed it away in the back of their mixed-up minds under "Memo: Elected officials have declared that gay people must be killed in order to save society". Eventually some will act on this, and because of Sally's vile little diatriabe, they have now decided that killing gay people is a moral necessity, something which must be done to save society, of no more consequence than squashing a bug, and something which officials deem to be perfectly acceptable. I pasted a couple other comments below from a friend I thought are good:

[usaqueers] Sally Kern technically calls for the eradication of homosexuals??Monday, March 10, 2008 10:57 PM

From: "Rusty Morris" ([email protected]) View contact details To: [email protected] What I find most interesting is what would happen to her based on her remarks in places like Canada or an EU country. Do you realize that based on one particular remark she actually calls for (technically) the eradication of Gay people. In her speech she sets up a scenario by which she equates the U.S. with "the body" and proceeds to equate Gay people with "toe Cancer"...now we aren't stupid. Everyone knows what you do with Cancer, to survive cancer you must cut it out, you must kill it, you must eradicate it from the body. She proceeds in her analogy to discuss how, like toe cancer, if ignored will kill the body. She states that to ignore toe cancer is stupid because although at the time it seems "nothing", that without treatment it will spread and consume. Well of course, this is logical and all true. Her use of this analogy however is a lot more serious than it seems. TO equate Gay people with toe cancer, a disease that must be stopped BEFORE it kills the body...KNOWING what we all understand to be the proper course and treatment of cancer. Cancer must be killed, must be purged, must be eradicated to survive. She then hammers this subtle point home by moving on to statements and claims regarding any society that accepts homosexuality as only lasting a "couple decades". When taken altogether, her statements are technically a call for the extermination of Gay people. Now of course the sheeple masses would agree that technically this is true but "couldn't be what she really meant". In Canada such a statement by a public official would be taken as it lay. She would be charged with Hate Speech violations and there would be no sissy codling of her words as "accidental analogies". The headlines would read (and should read here) "Rep. Sally Kern technically calls for the eradication of homosexuals? " Of course she did not get specific, and it is a question I would love to know, how DOES she plan to "Eradicate this cancer before it spreads" Killing?..isolation ?..deportation? ...concentration camps?...arrest/ imprisonment? By what method does she see an eradication of this cancer taking place in this country? This is something I would love to hear her respond to, I can here her now "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that"..well sweety, it seems you should have chosen your analogies a bit more carefully... because technically, and with all of us knowing the proper course for cancer treatment... she DID just that. Russ Rusty Morris wrote: She can double talk all she wants to. Equating Gay people with "toe cancer" as inevitable destruction of the body (the US) if not "treated". The use of words like "Terrorists" when engaging in what she calls "debate", claiming Gay people are more of a threat than "Terrorists" is indeed the very definition of "hate speech" as it seeks to enrage, frighten, and demonize, KNOWING what those feelings drive people to do. Further association and use of terms like "Indoctrinate 2nd graders" (A further attempt to demonize and touch upon primal rage in the public by demonizing Gay people as a threat to children). If Sally Kern expressed her opinion that according to HER interpretation of her PERSONAL religious beliefs SHE believes Homosexuality to be immoral and LEFT IT at that. Then she would indeed have been doing nothing but expressing her "Free Speech" right to her own personal opinion. This is not what Sally Kern did and SHE knows it. She used every "buzz-phrase" ..every "demonization red herring" and every "incitement to riot" fear tactic she could vomit up in her "speech" to a group of, and in the company of, like minded fascist scum. Sally Kern, like all those who skip happily down her road, RAPED the ideal of "Free Speech" by abusing it, twisting it, and codifying it as a shield for obvious hate speech. To be a public figure and NOT know the difference between Free Speech and Hate Speech is WHY every other civilized country from Canada to Sweden laughs at us. But like most right wing pundits, Sally Kern depends on the primal hatreds and ignorance of the public to allow her to whitewash what she said and what she is. Sally Kern doesn't like homos?..more power to her, revel in her hatred and bias till Jesus spits in her face and points her the other way, but when you say that my people are akin to a cancer in this country, a threat to 2nd graders, more dangerous than terrorists, blah blah same Nazi buzz tactics they used to rally people against the Jews...then she has indeed went across the line, out from under the veil of free speech and into the nest of fascist Klu Klux Klan, Phelps soldier pickets, and Christian Identity supremacist ideals. That is the truth of the matter. Russ

Posted by: Preston | Mar 11, 2008 7:54:40 AM

If you want to tell her just how unpleasant you find her you can at: Capitol Address: 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 332 Oklahoma City, OK 73105 (405) 557-7348. District Address: 2713 Sterling Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73127. Email: [email protected]

Posted by: forbesfart | Mar 11, 2008 10:53:06 AM

Wow, Preston - very nice response, and spot on. Give your friends a cyber-hug from me :) Of course a majority of gay people are like "we need to understand her", "maybe she's having financial problems", or some other ass-kissing lame excuse. When trailer trash like this hillbilly is spreading an indirect version of Nazi propaganda, people need to call it like it really is. And there's some gay activists out there who will try to present her speech as a pretty decorated cake, and those tree-hugging sissies are no better than this woman. Supposedly she has a gay son, and when presented with her own speech, she couldn't listen to it. I wonder if her son was unaware of exactly how nutty his mother is, and she's worried he'll soon find out? Of course if I were the son, I'd be stopping by to pick up whatever belongs to me, and the nutball wingnuts can have the bitch LOL

Posted by: Scott | Mar 11, 2008 1:00:06 PM

Thanks for sharing the petition Gerry - signed it.

Posted by: Scott | Mar 11, 2008 1:12:04 PM

Ok, I've done my part to help out with the Sally Kern petition LOL ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1igdbeV5l8

Posted by: Scott | Mar 11, 2008 7:04:11 PM

Please sign the petition to get Sally Kern out of Office. Forward to all your friends, post on your blogs!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/request-to-terminate-sally-kerns-position-house-of-representatives



Posted by: Heather | Mar 12, 2008 12:45:35 PM

"Homophobia is a fear of people loving, more than it is of the sexual act" "There seems to be an innate distaste for the love involved, which I find absolutely extraordinary. The issue is love. It's not about sex, neither terrorists!!! Shame on you Sally Kern

Posted by: Steven Green | Mar 12, 2008 8:41:22 PM

I wanted to call her up and leave a message but I do not know if that is legal... A woman this evil could probably get me in trouble for it but i wanted to tell her she should be MORE than ashamed of herself for saying that homosexuality is more of a threat than terrorism and comparing it to cancer of the toe? She should be stripped of any power she holds in this "land of the free." Destroying our nation? Try school shootings or STDS that are affecting homosexuals and heteosexuals alike. This woman does not represent anything I stand for and she should also be ashamed as a Christian-EVERYONE is loved by God. This is the most disturbing speech I have heard in a long time and it is scary that evil people like her have power. SHAME ON YOU if you are reading this... millions of people heard you loud and clear.

Posted by: Shayna | Mar 13, 2008 9:01:00 AM

I support her right to speak her mind. And all of you gays should be ashamed of yourselves to trying to take her right away.....Also she is spot on in her assessment that our schools no longer teach but simply indoctrinate....She is also correct ( for those who do not know history ) the homosexuality has taken down very powerful societies ...She is on the mark....even though gays do not like her truth

Posted by: Tammy | Mar 14, 2008 3:30:02 PM

Tammy: For the one million and sixth time, nobody is denying her right to speak her mind. We are simply employing OUR right to call her out on her words!! The "free speech" argument is a childish distraction. Schools do not indoctrinate. They are trying to eliminate bias. The bias that those of us who grew up gay knew (and still largely know) all too well. Homosexuality has not ever destroyed a society. What revisionist rubbish!!

Posted by: G-A-Y | Mar 15, 2008 9:04:00 AM

Although I do not agree how Sally said this; could she be telling the TRUTH? It seems to me the whole issue comes down to what TRUTH we believe. Could this shift in our personal TRUTH lead to our nation’s downfall? God has given us the ability to choose between TRUTH and NON TRUTH. Most of us want to do what is right. We all are looking for data or research that will support what we think is the TRUTH. Sally’s TRUTH is based on what was written and has been followed for over 4000 thousand years. Your TRUTH is just getting out. I can only wonder why it has taken this long to come to us after all this time. My hope, and I’m sure this is God’s hope, is that we both get the TRUTH before we see our end on this Earth.

Posted by: Denis | Mar 18, 2008 6:55:45 PM

Yes there is such a thing as free speech, which she executed, there's also something called consequences of one's actions. I think that consequentially Sally Kern needs to resign. because as an elected official it is your responsibility to represent the people of your county and your voice is their voice so you'd better watch you what you say. If an elected official said that African American's or Arab Americans or insulted any race by calling them the "downfall of society" or "the death knell of this nation" the would be out of office faster than you could snap your fingers. So why should it be any different for Sally Kern who blatantly attacked homosexuals with some serious accusations and false indoctrination. this is the type of brainwashing that's is confusing people into hating something harmless. Behind every Mathew Shepperd their's a Sally Kern spewing lies into the ears of the attackers.

Posted by: Jesse Johnson | Apr 2, 2008 7:06:30 PM

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