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Archive for the ‘Sally Kern / Sally Kearn’ Category

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Oklahoma is not the only place where people make their unfriendly-towards-gay-people views known. This sign was described as being in a rural part of North Carolina. I spent recent years of my life in Oklahoma. I now live in North Carolina, my home state. These attitudes sadden me no matter where they are expressed. I hope that hearts and minds will continue to change for the better, and some day there will be a place where all are people are valued and all are welcomed.

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Thanks to Craig at NC Gay Activist for this photo.

Visit Towleroad for the original post and comments.

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[UPDATE: Sunday March 30, 2008 – I will list links to support and advocacy groups at the end of this post as I learn of them. I will list links to sites that monitor Kern’s hate-speech (and, those groups who promote and support her hate-speech) in a comment to this post.]

It seems that Sally Kern’s misinformed attacks on gay people will not end any time soon. I will be surprised if they ever end. Before the YouTube video that made her famous, I had not heard of her. Now, her legally-protected hate speech is covered at every turn.

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Sally Kern shows no signs of stopping her public attacks on gay people or changing her views. If anything, she has dug in her heels, and she is going to great lengths to repeat her ignorant and hate-tinged views as often as possible in print (letter to OK newspaper) and at her public meetings.

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I must say Sally Kern’s behavior does not surprise me. I know someone who is like her in making ignorant and narrow-minded statements and holding ignorant and narrow-minded views. I was subjected to that person’s anti-everyone attitudes for most of my life. Only in recent years did someone point out to me that she talks that way to everyone, and I just let her negativity affect me more than most. I still feel sorry for the young people who have to listen to her hate-speech.

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I have been fortunate never to have lived with the person I know who feels the need to verbally attack every group she thinks is ‘bad’ (based on her personal beliefs). That person has never changed for as long as I’ve known her. I believe she means well and probably has not the slightest idea of the damage she did to me over the years. Because of the misguided preacher of hate in my own life, someone who I want to believe is actually a good and loving person who means well (at least in her own personal circle), I want to believe the same of Sally Kern.

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I want to believe Sally Kern means well, in her own misguided way. I want to believe she has no idea how much harm she causes people with her attitudes, actions and words. I feel especially sorry for any young people who trust her and look up to her, people over whom she has influence. If she was as outspoken about her views during her 20 years in education as the person I know, believing she was doing the right thing by talking about how bad other people are for their very existence, then she very well may have caused harm to many people. This is my personal opinion based on my experience with negative and judgmental people. I think it’s a shame for adults to be so hostile and negative towards kids. It’s hard enough to grow up. Sally Kern’s views are no friend to any young person who is gay or lesbian.

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I think the reason I’ve posted so much about The Sally is that she’s like the anti-everyone person in my life. That person caused me harm over the years with her negativity and hate speech, and she was someone I rarely saw. Words matter. Words can be used to heal or to harm. I have always believed if I were ever in a position to speak up about these things, I should, for the sake of other kids who are harmed by such ignorant and hateful attitudes, especially when those things are spoken by people who say they are only saying what God says. Incredible damage is often done by people who say they speak in the name of God (but do so, most certainly, without the blessing of God).

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In my own life, I internalized the anti-everyone speech I heard from the person I knew. I don’t know why I let her get to me. Other people were able to just tune her out. But, I was always (in my own mind) the champion of the underdog. So, she’d say anti-this-group or anti-that-group things to me, and I’d always take the bait and end up in an argument with her. But, she was older and very negative. It was not good for me. I was told many times by someone who knew her that she was really a good and loving person. I even saw good (thoughtful) behavior by her at times. But, for most of my life, the major influence she had on me was of pouring out negativity and judgment on just about everyone. Being confronted with her negativity and voiced judgmental attitudes was like being in a toxic waste swamp. I didn’t drown, but I did not escape without injury.

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I think it’s all about being misguided. The attitudes and beliefs vocalized by Sally Kern, and so many like her, are a watered down version of what the Westboro ‘church’ (a tax-exempt hate group) does. They spread hate, intolerance and rejection of others in the name of religion. It’s really sad that some of the people who have influence (certain religious leaders, educators and politicians) use their influence to create an environment of intolerance and rejection of others rather than one of inclusion and acceptance. (The person I know once named all the ‘bad’ people, and they were everyone. It was really pretty amazing. Any individual or group that was not just like her politically or religiously was in the ‘bad’ category.)

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I hope the young people in Sally Kern’s life, and those within earshot of her unloving words, will close their minds and hearts to the lack of love she spreads. She speaks as if she believes she is spreading God’s word. That’s what the person I know has always done. I don’t see it that way. What I see is the incredible harm she is (potentially) causing.

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I hope for a world where we all accept ourselves and each other. I hope for a world where people can co-exist with different religions, different languages, different loves, different colors of skin, different abilities, different interests. It saddens me to see how so much energy is spent (time, human life, money, emotion) to destroy others who are different. I can’t see that there is anything good in Sally Kern’s repeated public forums where she spreads her anti-gay message. She is quickly becoming too much like the anti-gay ‘church’ that pickets funerals and carries signs thanking God for deaths.

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I have become weary of The Sally.

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If you, too, are tired of The Sally, and you want to escape the negativity of her words and words of those like her, look instead to people and places that offer support and encouragement. PFLAG. Soulfource. Heartstrong. If you’re in Oklahoma, OKEQ. If anyone wants to list support and advocacy groups in the comments, you are welcome to do so. There are also many church groups who are ‘open and affirming’. I welcome links to those groups, too.

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In the long term, if you are tired of hate-speech and anti-equality legislation, be sure you are registered to vote … and vote. These issues are not ‘gay’ issues, they are human issues and equality issues. Americans need to speak up against intolerance and hate. We need to vote proponents of inequality and hate out of office.

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I just remembered another list of equal rights advocacy groups. It’s listed on an anti-gay site (to identify the enemy). I won’t name the anti-gay-for-pay website, but thanks for the link to equal rights organizations:

More support and advocacy groups:

Cimarron Alliance – for A Fair and Just Oklahoma

Equality NC – Equality North Carolina is a statewide advocacy organization that works to secure equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender North Carolinians

Youth Services of Tulsa – Nonprofit community agency devoted to advocacy for youth

Herland Sister Resources – Herland is a nonprofit organization operated entirely by volunteers. We provide resources for the women’s community to strengthen, enrich, and support women, and to promote a world free of prejudice, oppression and exploitation.

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I enjoy the way Good As You takes gay news and adds their own humorous (and serious) perspective:

Well, at least she doesn’t want us fired from Dept. of Terrorism

Picture 6-119In what was her first meeting with an organized LGBT group, Sally Kern today met with representatives from Oklahoma City chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). And while the OK Rep. did not apologize for or back away from her not OK comments, there was one pretty big development from the meeting: According to the PFLAGers, Sally did “agree with” the idea that gay and lesbians should not be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation.

Go read the group’s press release for more:

Oklahoma City PFLAG Supporters Meet with Sally Kern [PFLAG]
(H/t: P1Q)

Though honestly, we’re a little hesitant to see this as a big step. After all, considering what we already know about Sally, there’s a very good chance that (a) she meant it’s our “immorality” that should get us fired, not our orientation, (b) she meant we shouldn’t be fired because of our orientation because she doesn’t believe we actually have a gay orientation, or (c) she doesn’t think we should be fired because she doesn’t think we should ever be hired in the first place. Call us self-loving if you must, but the whole “you gays are gonna destroy society” thing has left us a teensy bit leery.

Here’s the official PFLAG press release about the meeting:

Oklahoma City PFLAG Supporters Meet with Sally Kern

For Immediate Release
March 27, 2008

Contact:
Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards
(405) 642-0124 / loycee@sbcglobal.net
Steve Ralls
(202) 467-8180 X212 / sralls@pflag.org

Oklahoma City PFLAG Supporters Meet with Sally Kern
Lawmaker Agrees Gays Should Not Be Fired Because of Sexual Orientation

Oklahoma City, OKMembers and allies of the Oklahoma City Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) met earlier today with Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern to express concern about her recent comments comparing the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to a “cancer” that “is just destroying this nation.” Kern also referred to GLBT Americans as “the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism.”

Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards, president of the Oklahoma City PFLAG chapter, was joined in the meeting by Dr. Rev. Kathy McCallie, pastor of the Church of the Open Arms and Rev. Jim Shields, a retired UnitedMethodistChurch minister from Kern’s district. The group requested a meeting with Kern following a March 18 rally at the state capitol. In her meeting with PFLAG supporters today, Kern said that “I agree with” the idea that gay and lesbian Americans should not be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation.

“We appreciate Representative Kern taking the time to meet with us and consider an important, ongoing dialogue about our families and loved ones,” said Rev. Newton-Edwards. “Representative Kern expressed a commendable desire to consider every family, every Oklahoman and every constituent. Today, she took an important first step forward that, we hope, will be the beginning of many conversations with our families and our community.”

Kern did not express an apology during today’s meeting, nor did she back away from any of her earlier comments. The meeting was, however, her first with a group working within the GLBT and allied communities. Newton-Edwards, McCallie and Shields all shared their own stories about why Kern’s comments were personally hurtful, and asked the lawmaker to remember their loved ones when speaking out, and casting votes, in the future. Newton-Edwards also invited Kern to attend an upcoming PFLAG meeting, and Kern said she would consider the request.

“As Representative Kern begins to listen to voices from across her district, and the state, she will hear the stories of hard-working, patriotic men and women who make our communities better, our nation safer and our families stronger,” said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of PFLAG. “We appreciate this initial meeting, and PFLAG stands ready to be a resource to Kern and a champion for her constituents. We look forward to continuing today’s conversation and working with Kern to move equality forward. Bringing communities together, rather than dividing the public with inflammatory words, should be a top priority of every elected leader. Kern will always find open arms and welcoming families at PFLAG.”

According to The Williams Institute at the University of California-Los Angeles, Oklahoma is home to more than 89,500 GLBT citizens; nearly 10,000 lesbian and gay military veterans; and approximately 4,000 children are living in loving homes headed by same-sex couples. According to the Institute, Representative Kern’s district is home to more GLBT Oklahomans than any other district in the state.


For more information, visit www.pflag.org.

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PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. For more information, visit www.pflag.org.

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Deb’s House Concerts …………

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https://dhconcerts.wordpress.com/feed

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Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008

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Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008

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Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008

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Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008

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Happy 1st Day of Spring 2008 March 20, 2008

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What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Chocolate Easter Bunny Chat March 22, 2008

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15,000 Visits March 22, 2008

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“Lean In For A Kiss” by Deborah L. Hord (FREE mp3 – on the eFolkMusic digital sampler) March 24, 2008

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“Socially Acceptable” by Deborah L. Hord March 24, 2008

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Sally Kern and Scott Jones (openly gay pastor) on KFOR TV on Easter Sunday March 25, 2008

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Just Another Silly Joke – Dolly Parton and Queen Elizabeth … March 25, 2008

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Jeremiah Wright – Barack Obama … Anthropologist Critiques Focus on the Family’s Report on Marriage … Labor of Love (TransMan Pregnant) … Leno – “Give Me Your Gayest Look” March 25, 2008

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OkEq eNews: OkEq in the Advocate March 26, 2008

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From the Oklahoman’s For Equality newsletter:

Special Announcements

Tulsa named “Emerging Gay City” in The Advocate!

April’s Advocate spotlights Tulsa as one of five cities with rising LGBT communities in “Where the Gays Are.” The article features OkEq Executive Director Justice Waidner and prominently covers the Equality Center’s services and resources. Download it here.

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New Program: Diversity Youth Leadership Network (DYLN) Spring Summit

Saturday, March 29, 9am-4:30pm, Youth Services of Tulsa, 311 South Madison Ave.

DYLN seeks to empower LGBTQ youth and their allies in Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) through leadership development, organizational support and capacity building, and program continuity. This fun and free youth leadership conference kicks off DYLN with youth and adult workshops, a keynote by Oklahoma Representative Al McAffrey, “Be the Change You Want to See”, and music by Logo Network sensation Eric Himan. For more information or to register, visit our website or contact Deputy Director Mana Tahaie.

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Bernard Brandon Scott on “What the Bible Says About Homosexuality”

Wednesday, April 2, 7-9pm, University of Tulsa Lorton Hall room 207

The University of Tulsa’s United Campus Ministry hosts Bernard Brandon Scott, Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament at the Phillips Theological Seminar, for a discussion about Christianity and homosexuality.

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“My Life Under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Thursday, April 3, 7pm, University of Tulsa Lorton Hall room 207

Oklahomans for Equality is extremely proud to host Sgt. Brandy Steward, member of the Oklahoma Army National Guard as she tells the story of serving under the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, the only federal law mandating the firing of an individual on the basis of their sexual orientation. Sgt. Stewart is profiled in this week’s Urban Tulsa Weekly and will be featured on KWGS 89.5 FM’s Studio Tulsa next Wednesday at 11:30am and 7:30pm. Don’t miss this moving and important discussion about the face of discrimination in our armed forces.

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Special Thanks to H.O.P.E. Testing

Oklahomans for Equality thanks H.O.P.E. Testing Clinic for hosting their Tenth Anniversary Celebration at the Equality Center. We are proud of our long-standing partnership with H.O.P.E., whose anonymous, rapid HIV test and STD education and outreach provide an incredibly vital service to the Tulsa community.

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Heterosexual couples needed for study

A Wayne University research team is conducting a study on relationship satisfaction, spirituality, religion and self-esteem. The team is seeking 180 same- or mixed-sex couples who have been living together for at least six months to take a 25-45 minute, private online survey. Participants will enter a drawing to win an iPod Nano. If you and your partner would like to participate, please email Lisa Dillon with both email address. This study been approved by the University of Detroit, Mercy.

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Rev. Dr. Scott Jones and Rep. Sally Kern Debate on KFOR’s Flashpoint

Reverend Dr. Scott Jones, pastor of Cathedral of Hope Church in Oklahoma City, debated Representative Sally Kern on this Sunday’s Flashpoint political debate program. View the debate online.


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Visit Pam’s House Blend for the story and the YouTube video.

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This post is by Chuck Wolfe of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. It first appeared on The Huffington Post.

Chuck Wolfe

Chuck Wolfe

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What Sally Has Wrought

Posted March 18, 2008 | 02:34 PM (EST)
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Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern’s now-infamous anti-gay speech published on YouTube last Friday has garnered worldwide attention, and 1 million people have now viewed the video. Moved by the egregious level of homophobia coming from the elected official, Ellen DeGeneres took an uncharacteristic step of playing Kern’s comments on her show, then attempted to call the Representative on-air.
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Margaret Cho has also lent her support to a growing chorus of well-known voices calling for Kern to apologize — among them Judy Shepard whose son Matthew’s murder in a brutal hate-crime in Laramie, Wyoming, galvanized national attention a decade ago. But those celebrity voices and YouTube numbers don’t begin to tell the story of the outrage her comments have generated, nor the impact they are having in her own backyard.
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In recent days, Rep. Kern and her supporters have defended her freedom of speech, as though that’s what millions of people, gay and straight alike, are objecting to. We are not. Rep. Kern has every right to her opinion and to express it. But she is also a public servant and an elected community leader whose public speeches have an impact beyond her own small sphere. If she had offered similar hateful views about African Americans, Native Americans or Jewish people, the calls for her resignation would have been swift and deafening, and from both sides of aisle in the State House. We wouldn’t even be debating her speech. We’d be saying goodbye.
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Rep. Kern’s remarks were not Christian. They were meant to dehumanize gays and lesbians in the most humiliating way. We are like cancer. We are worse than terrorists. We are the biggest threat to America, she said. Who knows how many confused, angry young men who heard those words from a public official are even now dreaming of acting on them? Has she fed the darkness in their hearts with the hatred that fills her own?
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The thousands of messages we have received since the release of our video have expressed a range of emotions including shock, anger, outrage and, most prominently, sadness. There was a deep sense of sadness among those who have gay children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and parents. And among those who are themselves gay, there is a sinking feeling that they are a little less free than they thought they were. They are not naïve; they know these ideas exist. But they are alarmed that their expression by someone like Rep. Kern was met with applause and a standing ovation by many of her colleagues.
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Rep. Kern may not have realized the effect her ugly words would have, but she now has an opportunity to say to her constituents and to gays and lesbians and their families across Oklahoma, that she regrets the language she used. The damage is done, but her apology can begin the healing.
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Chuck Wolfe is the President and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. For more information, please visit www.victoryfund.org.
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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Rep. Kern, I have just finished reading the full text of your speech, the one containing the excerpts heard on YouTube, the one from which you said quotes were taken out of context. Rep. Kern, if anything, the YouTube video made you look better than you look when the text of the speech is read in full.

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At one point in the speech, you said students these days are “learners but not thinkers.”

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We’re turning out a citizenry who are learners but not thinkers. By that I mean, they take whatever is thrown at them. They don’t question it. A thinker listens to what’s given to them and then goes and researches and reasons about it and figures out is this right or wrong.

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Rep. Kern, it looks to me like you fit that description, too. You have taken the lies and misinformation presented by certain groups of people, lies and misinformation about ‘gay people’, and you have presented them as fact. This is not a trait I want to see in a teacher, especially not a history teacher. If anything, you have set yourself up as an example of a person who is a learner but not a thinker.

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The full text of your speech is posted on equalrightsproject.com , Rep. Kern. I’m taking the liberty of linking to it and posting it here. What I see in this speech is that you fit your own description of a person who absorbs what she is told and then regurgitates it without looking for truth or using any critical thinking skills.

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You may very well dislike all non-heterosexual people in this world. That is your right. That is your business. But, I would hope you would have enough self-respect not to want to look like someone who does not think and simply spouts the lies fed to you by others.

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Here’s your speech in full. In what way should I believe that you have sought truth, thought for yourself or behaved in an ethical or moral manner befitting a person of your years in education and your current experience in political office? I expect better from a person who spent an entire career in education.

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Uh. . .well first, I have gotten some bills passed in to law, and secondly I was talking with Bill Graves once and he said I think you’re doing a good job and you kinda took up my program and I said, well Bill, thank you, but I’d like to think that it’s somebody bigger than you’s program that I’m doing. But anyway, I am thankful to be here today and I am going to share a number of things so I hope your ears are turned on fast because I want to get through this quickly and I do have. . .the teacher in me didn’t pass these out in advance because I know you’d look at them and read them and not listen to me and I want you to listen to me but I have some information you want to be sure to get, three handouts over there.

I like to call myself a social conservative, okay, and for me a social conservative is more than just being pro-life, and wanting smaller governments, and spending less. It’s whole lot more than that. To me, being a government teacher and a history teacher for about 20 years and loving the beginnings of our nation , I believe being social conservative you have to embrace the principles upon which this nation was founded if you’re going to be a true social conservative.

Now I’d like to start by asking you a question and I’m not going to give you time to answer because I’ll probably, I’ll try to finish before one so if you have any questions you’ll have time to ask me. I have no trouble talking being a school teacher and a minister’s wife, talking just comes with the territory.

But if I were to ask you what is the one thing that has made America great, that makes us unique, what would it be? And then if I were to ask you what is the one thing that is actually destroying this nation, what would be your answer? Now I’m not going to let you give me an answer, Charlie’s already got his hand up. But I’m not going to let you give me an answer, ‘cause I’m just going to tell you what I think the one thing is. Actually what made us great and what is destroying is just like a coin, it’s a flip side. What made us great is that we were a nation founding on Christian principles. Okay, that’s just the bottom line. If you go to the primary sources and read our founding fathers, what they had to say, they gave preferential treatment to Christianity.

They believed, I’m going to share with you in just a minute, five practical benefits of Christianity. So what’s destroying this nation, the fact that we’re leaving the roots upon which we were founded. We are crumbling from within because of the bankruptcy that we have in the moral fiber of this nation and leaving the principles of our founding fathers. Now I’m going to give away this little book, and I don’t know how were going to do it, but you know I’ll let Tom figure that out. It’s by David Barton, “The Practical Benefits of Christianity”. It’s awesome.

I’m briefly going to go through the five practical benefits. You see the thing about religion, religion isn’t just spiritual, it’s practical. What we have in our society today is a dichotomy. If you’re a religious person, that’s personal beliefs and that’s kind like in, you know, private, that’s in the upper story. But if you’re in government, if you’re in school, business, that’s where facts are and you don’t mix the two. Well, you guys, truth is truth. It doesn’t matter what realm of society you are in, truth is truth, there’s cold truth. If you’ve never read the book by Nancy Pearcy called “Cold Truth” you need to read that book. Awesome book. “Cold Truth”, Nancy Pearcy. (transcriptionist Note: actually “Total Truth”)

But there are practical benefits to Christianity. Our founding fathers knew that and that’s why they chose Christianity, the principles of Christianity and most of our founding fathers were believers in Jesus Christ. That’s documented, it’s not just hearsay. It’s documented.

What are the five practical benefits? First is, a civilized society. And civilized, according the Webster’s Dictionary, 1828 dictionary, ‘civilized’ means decent, respectful, moral behavior. That’s what civilized means. And we can stop and look at our society today and we don’t have a very civilized society because we can see all kinds of depravity all the time. Our founding fathers believed that our government was a self-government and you can only have self-government if you have individual governence in your own life. And the less people are controlled by any restraints the more government you have to have to control them. That’s just. . .we see that happening all the time. So they believed that we needed a civilized society. They also believed that Christian principles were the very reason for the way that our society was going to exist is because, and it goes back again to, you have to have self-governence.

One of our first Speakers of the House, and I never can remember his name, but he said men will be governed either by internal restraints or external restraints. Either by the bayonet or by the Bible. So we need to have the principles of Christianity for our society to exist.

Another practical benefit of Christianity is just good citizenship. Good citizens, okay. You know it doesn’t matter if we live next door to an atheist, an infidel, or whatever, if they believe in a basic principle of right and wrong, which used to always be the ten commandments, if they’re not going to come over and kill me or steal my stuff, or go after my husband and things like that, I can live next to them. No problem. People used to know what was right and what was considered wrong. Today, it’s left up to anybody’s, you know, discretion and that won’t work.

Another practical benefit of Christianity was the elevation of knowledge, of learning, of science, okay, of the arts. They believed, matter of fact, Thomas Payne who wrote “Age of Reason” where he tried to say you don’t need religion, you should keep it out of the public sector. Ben Franklin wrote him a letter and Ben Franklin, arguably is one of our lesser considered religious leaders, but he said to Thomas Payne don’t write that book, don’t publish that book. He said it will do you harm, it will do our nation harm. You know, he believed that we needed to have a society that was based upon Christian principles because elevation of science, elevation of knowledge is very important if you’re going to have an informed public. And I believe it was Thomas Payne also said, you know, you can look at a picture and it makes you think of the artist, you can look at some kind of invention and you think of the inventor. Why is it that we look at the creation and we don’t think about the creator. You know, we don’t do that. And if we really had Christian principles our educational system would not be in the mess it is in today. I could give you lots of quotes about, oh Benjamin Rush and Noah Webster and Fisher Ames who actually penned the first amendment, the things they had to say about the main book in school should be the Bible. There’s a lot of stuff about that that’s really important and we certainly got away from it.

Another practical benefit, the last one, of Christianity is a cohesive value system. A cohesive value system. We don’t have that today. And you know we think, we hear this all the time, we are such a large society today, we have such diversity in all these different religions and ethnic backgrounds and everything, you can’t have a cohesive value system. Well, we didn’t just have that right now. You can go back read some of the writings of John Adams, and he talks about the diverse society that they had back at the beginning of this nation. So Christian principles are very important in order to have a cohesive value system. So regardless of what your faith is you can live together. We have gotten away from these principles and it is affecting our lives today.

One of the main ways, and this is something I’m going to talk about a lot today, that is affecting our lives, is in the gay agenda. Now I’m not a gay basher, okay. When I taught school three doors down from me was one of the most obnoxious gay people that you can mention. If I named him you probably have seen him. He writes in the paper all the time and everything. But you know, he has the right to practice that life-style if he chooses but he does not have the right to indoctrinate his classes. You know, that’s not what education is about. But what we see happening today is the homosexual agenda is destroying this nation. Okay, it’s just a fact. If you’ve never read, here’s another book, “The Criminalization of Christianity” by Janet Folger. Every Christian ought to read that book, “The Criminalization of Christianity”. It is an awesome book and if that doesn’t scare you and motivate you, something’s wrong.

And here’s the problem, the gay people are motivated. If we as, whether you’re a Christian or not, if you’re just a good conservative, if we were as motivated as the gay people were, the contest would be over. That’s just all there is to it. It would be over. But we aren’t motivated. I think we’ve been suckered by this lie of separation of church and state. But there is a new phenomenon going on, has been going on since the last four years in the gay movement and it’s been headed by a gentleman by the name of Tim Gill. He’s a software mogul guy who sold his Quark, Q-U-A-R-K, however you say that, he sold it for billions of dollars. He contributed 30 million dollars in ’06 to races. He contributed that money to local races, state races and governor races. He gives money, yes to, on the federal level but primarily it’s on the local level because his philosophy is this: if we’re gonna really make changes, we’re going to have to do it locally. And what’s the saying we always hear and we know, all politics is local. And he along with a lot of other gay activists are very disappointed in the national democratic party because they’ve not, you know they say, they promise all this stuff, you know we’ll acknowledge gays and etc., etc., but when it comes down to really doing policy in Congress, what’s always the first to go? The gay agenda stuff, because those democrats, they don’t want to alienate their base. So Tim Gill along with a bunch of other people, some other millionaires, billionaires have decided that the way to handle it is on the local level. And they contributed last year over 30 million dollars to state races. They targeted 13 states. They targeted 70 local politicians. They took out 50 of them. Tim Gill’s goal is within 10 years to change the face of politics to make to where there is equality to all people, all lifestyles.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the book that I base my life upon is God’s word. And it says to love everybody and I try to love everybody but not everybody’s lifestyle is equal. Just like not all religions are equal. Okay. All money isn’t equal. You know, we have this dumb idea now days, that tolerance means that everything is equal. Well, everything is not equal. We see that in many areas of our lives. You know, all things are not equal. All religions are not equal.

But, uh, let me just read you some things. Tim Gill along with four other, three other people, let me find this here. I’ve got so much information, there’s no way I can get all of this to you today, but I have it for you to read yourself. Along with a woman by the name of, I think it’s Pat Stryker, and then her brother John Stryker. . .I know I’ve got them right here, I’ll try to fish them out. . .Pat Stryker, Jared Polis and Rutt Bridges, they all right now are in Colorado and they have changed the face of Colorado. For 40 years Colorado’s legislature was in the hands of Republicans in ’06 it changed to hands of the Democrats. And the main reason is because they’re pushing, these four people, along with other people, and I have a list of them here, the top ones, that you can see, , , and this is important because when you start looking at who’s contributing to races, say that particular statewide race we’re all concerned about, look for some of these names. They don’t give more than a 1000 dollars because they don’t want to draw attention, okay, but they will give up to a 1000 dollars and so you start looking for these names. And what they do, their strategy is very under-the-table, very stealth, and their goal is to find state legislatures that are very tight in their, you know, republican/democrat, and if just a few races can make the difference to switch it from republican to democrat, they’re going to target that. And their goal is, in doing that, to intimidate republicans.

Now the problem we have, I think it’s a problem, we’ve got some moderate republicans who think it doesn’t matter what your lifestyle is, it doesn’t matter if you’re gay, it doesn’t matter if you’re for civil unions, you know. And you notice, the goal is, they’re pushing civil unions right now. That used to be unheard of, but now that’s pretty much acceptable. A lot of republicans are going for civil unions, okay. So you know what’s going to happen next, 10 years from now, it’s going to be gay marriage. Okay, they’re taking little by little, they’re taking ground little by little but they’re doing it quietly, under-the-table. They’re going into states where the races are close; they’re putting in lots of money; and not only that, they’re putting people on the ground. Let me read you this. Here this was really, I thought really interesting, I just want to read it. The key, this is from a guy by the name of Ted Trimpa, he’s kinda like the Karl Rove for Tim Gill. “They key to success is real grassroots, organizing, knocking at the doors, and knock on them again and don’t go turn out the gay vote, go knock on the swing doors as well,” he says. “Knock on every door and knock day, after day, after day.”

They took out in Iowa a guy by the name of Danny Carol who was the speaker pro-temp in the house. He thought his race was safe. He lost, a surprise loss. They put people on the ground, young college kids with their ipods going from door to door. Not just democrats, though, also republicans, trying to find those swing voters but they do it time and time again. They say it’s expensive and time consuming but it is the absolute right way to do real grassroots politics, door to door, talking to the voters, having gay people go to them, allies of ours go to each of them, walk them through and you flip votes one by one. It’s a strategy that works both in the legislature and in the field. They quote Tim Gill on another aspect of their political strategy. Tim says “you have to turn down the volume of opponent’s ‘anti’ rhetoric. They can’t just say and do everything with license. They have to know beforehand that it’s going to cost them some votes and some serious money to play like that. It certainly doesn’t stop it, but it turns it way down, and then when they do spew any ‘anti’ rhetoric, they look extreme. You have to create an environment of fear and respect,’ said Tim Gill . ”The only way to do that is to get aggressive and go out and actually beat them up politically. Sitting there crying and whining about being victims isn’t going to get us equality. What is going to get us equality is fighting for it.”

What they’re trying to do is send a message of intimidation to those people who are taking a stand for traditional marriage and against the homosexual lifestyle. They want to silence us, is what they want to do. And it’s happening all over the state. You know, the very fact that I’m talking to you like this, here today, puts me in jeopardy. Okay, and so, so be it. Okay, and I’m not ‘anti’, I’m not gay bashing, but according to God’s word that is not the right kind of lifestyle. It has deadly consequences for those people involved in it. They have more suicides and they’re more discouraged, there’s more illness, their life spans are shorter. You know, it’s not a lifestyle that is good for this nation. Matter of fact, studies show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it’s the death knell for this country. I honestly think it’s the biggest threat even, that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat, okay. Because what’s happening now, they’re going after, in schools, two year olds. You know what they’re trying to get early childhood education? They want to get our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them. I taught school for close to 20 years and we’re not teaching facts and knowledge anymore, folks, we’re teaching indoctrination. Okay? We’re turning out a citizenry who are learners but not thinkers. By that I mean, they take whatever is thrown at them. They don’t question it. A thinker listens to what’s given to them and then goes and researches and reasons about it and figures out is this right or wrong. We aren’t developing students like that today. We’re developing students who will do whatever the elites want. That’s what we’re headed toward and they’re 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. And there are programs they’re going after in school. It just, uh, I’m not going to say anymore about that because I have the material over there. You really need to read this article, seven pages, but read it. It has some interesting stuff in it. It will show you their strategy and we need to be forewarned.

Okay, now, where are the social conservative billionaires? I want to suggest to you that they are few and far between. Okay. We’ve got some, but they don’t give money the way the gay philanthropists are giving their money, okay. And unfortunately I see a lot of our millionaire conservatives are really bought into big business and even big government and they don’t support social conservatism. And I think that’s a mistake. But in 10 years time our whole landscape, political landscape, could be changed if we don’t start giving money, we social conservatives, people who have it, start giving money to candidates who will stand up for what is right, instead of buckling under this. So, it’s just happening to us right and left.

You know gays are infiltrating city councils. Did you know, Eureka Springs, anybody been there to the Passion Play? Have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays. Okay. There are some others, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Tacoma, Maryland, Kinsington, Maryland, in Vermont, Oregon, West Palm Beach, Florida and a lot of other places in Florida. What’s happening? The homosexuals are getting involved politically on the most local level there is, city council, city government and they are winning elections and the first thing they’re doing is passing, uh, laws, anti-discrimination laws and hate laws and things like that and, uh, you know, one of the things I deal with in our legislature is, I tried to introduce a bill last year that would notify parents, schools had to let parents know what clubs their students were involved in. And the reason I did that bill, primarily, was this, we have the gay/straight alliance coming into our schools. And we had parents say, if I knew my child was involved in that group I wouldn’t let them. Kids are getting involved in these groups, their lives are being ruined, their parents don’t know about it. So I introduced a bill that said you have to notify all clubs and things. And one of my colleagues said, ‘well you know we don’t have a gay problem in my community and that’s why I voted against that bill.” Well, you know what? To me that is so dumb. If you got cancer or something in your little toe, do you say, well you know, I’m just going to forget about it because the rest of me is just fine. It spreads, and this stuff is deadly and it’s spreading and will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation.

But they’re going after city councils, they’re influencing schools sex-ed at schools. Respect for differences in human sexuality is a big sex-ed program they’re trying to get into all the schools. And basically what is, it’s teaching that you have to be tolerant, you have to accept homosexuality.

This brings in our libraries. Okay, you know I believe in the principle as a person thinks, as a man thinks, so is he. That’s why we have to be careful about what we read, what we watch, things like that, what music we listen to and stuff because what goes in is what comes out. Garbage in, garbage out. We know that with computers. You know, what you put in is what you get out. Okay. You take our young minds and the garbage that they’re reading in our libraries and I mean it’s garbage. I should have thought and brought you some excerpts of some of the stuff that, uh, I mean there’s no literary value to it at all. It is pure filth. The language, the acts, the things that are going on and yet our kids are reading it, I mean, they are reading in the droves. Okay. Kids go home and I see some high school kids couldn’t wait to get out so they could go home and see their favorite soap opera. And I tell them, look, that is not real life. They do anything they want and don’t suffer consequences. In real life you got consequences.

So, uh, hate crimes, this leads to hate crimes. If we have hate crimes our free speech will be silenced. Okay. You know I’m not a lawyer, but I think I know enough about this. Law should be dealing with our actions, not with what we are thinking. Nobody can read my mind; nobody can read your mind. Okay. If two little old ladies are both murdered, you know, and one’s gay and other isn’t, why should the one that was gay, her murderers receive a harsher crime than the one’s who murdered the other little old lady? They’re both dead. You know, murder is murder. So we’ve gotta watch; they are coming after these kinds of bills.

Another thing that I’m real big on that is a real detriment to this society is evolution. Evolution undermines Christian principles. Period. That’s all there is to it. You either believe there is a creator or you believe there isn’t. Some people say well I believe there is a creator and he used evolution. There’s a lot of problems there folks. When does sin come in, when does the spirit come in? You know, it’s evolution. You read God’s word and you will see the word creation all through it, old and new testament. And it undermines people’s faith. They have trouble reading or believing the Bible.

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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Deb’s House Concerts

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Today, PFLAG of Oklahoma will hold a rally at the state capitol in Oklahoma City and Oklahomans for Equality will hold a solidarity vigil in Tulsa.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern

For Immediate Release
March 14, 2008

Contacts: Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards (405) 642-0124 / loycee@sbcglobal.net
Steve Ralls (202) 467-8180, ext. 214 /
sralls@pflag.org

Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol
and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern

Tuesday Rally Follows Anti-Gay Remarks from Kern

What: Families, allies and loved ones of GLBT citizens from Oklahoma will gather at the State Capitol on Tuesday in response to Representative Sally Kern’s recent statements calling the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community “the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism” and that GLBT people are “just destroying this nation.” Voters from across the state, including members of the Oklahoma City chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), will request to meet with Kern about her remarks. The public is encouraged to join the Oklahoma chapters of PFLAG and support calls for a meeting with Kern.

Who: Speakers will include Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards, president of the Oklahoma City PFLAG chapter; chapter vice president Conna Wilkinson; and attorney Richard Ogden, chair of Cimarron Alliance Foundation.

Why: Representative Kern’s remarks undermine our nation’s commitment to ‘liberty and justice for all,’ and do a great disservice to our families and communities,” PFLAG says in a statement to be released at the rally. “Every Oklahoman, and every American, deserves a public servant who believes in the dignity of all our children and who refuses to take part in divisive and counter-productive attacks on our families. Words matter, and Representative Kern’s statement sent a clear message that she condones second-class citizenship for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Her remarks disrespect our GLBT loved ones, dishonor the service of nearly 10,000 lesbian and gay veterans in Oklahoma and disregard her duty to uphold our country’s most noble values. Representative Kern owes her constituents an explanation, and our families an apology.”

When: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
12 Noon – 1 pm

Where: The Oklahoma State Capitol 1st Floor Rotunda
North Lincoln Boulevard at N.E. 23rd Street, Oklahoma City

# # #

PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. For more information, visit www.pflag.org.

 

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Solidarity Vigil

Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) will host a Solidarity Vigil to reflect on the dialogue created by Representative Sally Kern in the past weeks.

Tuesday, March 18, 7pm, Dennis R. Neill Equality Center

Join us in honoring the support of our allies, hear words of comfort from local community leaders, and celebrate our diversity and oneness in a time of healing as we bridge to a journey of continued justice and equality for all Oklahomans.

Speakers:

  • Lana Turner-Addison, Tulsa’s Director of Human Rights
  • Jeremy Elliot, All Souls Unitarian Church
  • Rev. Chaz Gaut, OkEq Board Member (Moderator)

Entertainment: Andre’ Martin

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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Deb’s House Concerts

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Here are excerpts from two articles on Huffington Post:

Terrorists Among Us: Rep. Sally Kern

Every thinking citizen of this country should write to Rep. Chris Benge, Speaker of the House for the Oklahoma House of Representatives asking for censure of this terrorist. Free speech is not a license to incite hate and violence, and sadly that is what this ugly oration is all about. Today, in regions all over this country where ignorant people actually accept these stupid lies as having some basis in fact, school-aged boys and girls who may appear a little more feminine or masculine than Sally thinks is appropriate are going to be terrorized by peers who listen to this crap because their parents listen to this crap. And that’s just for starters. This type of terrorism is the genesis of all hate crimes from name calling to murder.

Poems from Guantanamo Bay

Since prison authorities initially banned writing utensils, prisoners first carved their verses into Styrofoam cups with pebbles or their fingernails. After the first year, the Red Cross began providing pen and paper, and just recently, prisoners have been granted access to books.

They’ve also only recently been given something of a voice. Twenty-one poems written “inside the wire” at Guantanamo have been gathered together by Mark Falkoff, a lawyer and professor who represents many of the Guantanamo detainees. The collection, entitled Poems from Guantánamo: The Detainees Speak, was recently published by University of Iowa Press.

Three poems:

Dossari claims that life in the prison drove him to attempt suicide more than a dozen times. And he wrote the following poem as part of a suicide letter he sent his lawyer.

Take my blood.

Take my death shroud and

The remnants of my body.

Take photographs of my corpse at the grave, lonely.

Send them to the world,

To the judges and

To the people of conscience,

Send them to the principled men and the fair-minded.

And let them bear the guilty burden before the world,

Of this innocent soul.

Let them bear the burden before their children and before history,

Of this wasted, sinless soul,

Of this soul which has suffered at the hands of the “protectors of peace.”

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Here’s another poem from the collection. It’s by a man named Abdulla Thani Faris al Anazi, and it’s difficult to read it as a security threat.

To My Father

Two years have passed in far-away prisons,

Two years my eyes untouched by kohl.

Two years my heart sending out messages

To the homes where my family dwells,

Where lavender cotton sprouts

For grazing herds that leave well fed.

O Flaij, explain to those who visit our home

How I used to live.

I know your thoughts are swirled as in a whirlwind,

When you hear the voice of my anguished soul.

Send sweet peace and greetings to Bu’mair;

Kiss him on his forehead, for he is my father.

Fate has divided us, like the parting of a parent from a newborn.

O Father, this is a prison of injustice.

Its iniquity makes the mountains weep.

I have committed no crime and am guilty of no offense.

Curved claws have I,

But I have been sold like a fattened sheep.

I have no fellows but the Truth.

They told me to confess, but I am guiltless;

My deeds are all honorable and need no apology.

They tempted me to turn away from the lofty summit of integrity,

To exchange this cage for a pleasant life.

By God, if they were to bind my body in chains,

If all Arabs were to sell their faith, I would not sell mine.

I have composed these lines

For the day when your children have grown old.

O God–who governs creation with providence,

Who is one, singular and self-subsisting,

Who brings comfort and happy tidings,

Whom we worship–

Grant serenity to a heart that beats with oppression,

And release this prisoner from the tight bonds of confinement.

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Another poet in the collection, Abdul Rashim Muslim Dost, claims that writing poems kept him sane during his three year imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay. A scholar with some reputation before his arrest, having written and published 19 books, he was the only prisoner to have written poems before his incarceration. Like Dossari, he was arrested by Pakistani authorities and then turned over to the United States. He claims his arrest stemmed from his ties to Pashtun nationalists disliked by the Pakistani Government. Here is the official explanation:

“Many Afghans who had been involved in terrorist activities in Afghanistan had moved to Peshawar at that time…men were arrested and passed to the Americans. The U.S. has subsequently questioned them and established during the past three long years that they were, in fact, innocent.” Here’s one of his poems:

“Just as the heart beats in the darkness of the body, so I, despite this cage, continue to beat with life. Those who have no courage or honor consider themselves free, but they are slaves. I am flying on the wings of thought, and so, even in this cage, I know a greater freedom.”

Dost claims to have written more than 25,000 lines of poetry during his imprisonment. He recently said, “I wrote from the core of my heart in Guantanamo Bay. In the outside world I could not have written such things.”

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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Read Full Post »

Deb’s House Concerts

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Dear Rep. Kern,

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One of the categories I use for posts about issues related to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transexual issues is “Health”. Rep. Kern, in your public words against gay people, you said “the homosexual lifestyle” is unhealthy. That’s one of those talking points the anti-gay groups like to use. You used it as if it were truth. I’d like to ask you to consider what the truth really is.

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I agree that kids and young adults who are constantly made to feel ‘less than’ in their families, schools, churches and in society may very well be at a higher risk for health issues such as depression, suicide, substance abuse and risky sexual behaviors. That applies to straight kids as well as gay kids. Fortunately for straight kids, the lifelong pressures they experience are for them to conform to a sexual identity norm that matches who they are inside. Unfortunately for gay kids, the outside message from birth does not match what is inside. It is especially difficult when the voices heard are ones that call names at school and church and in the public media.

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I agree that some gay people experience depression, but it is not from being gay. Where I differ from you Rep. Kern (and those who share your anti-gay mindset) is in the reason attached to those health issues. You want everyone to believe that lgbt people are depressed and suicidal and unhealthy because of being gay. I say, NO. You have it all backwards. Gay people (glbt) who are depressed or suicidal are not that way because they are gay. They are that way because they have spent their entire lives being marginalized, made to feel shame, being made the butt of jokes, being bullied or discriminated against, being told they are “wicked, evil, perverts, an abomination to God” and being made to hide who they are because of attitudes like yours.

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It should be no surprise that people who are made to feel ashamed at home, church, school and in society at large by being spoken against for an entire lifetime might experience depression. Many gay people live in hiding (live quiet lives with a partner rather than living as openly gay) because of people like you. This is sad, but it is a reality for many, because it is difficult to go through life without support for something as basic as who one is and who one loves.

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It should not be difficult for anyone, even you (plural) who speak out against “the homosexual lifestyle” to realize that your words hurt people. You hurt good and loving people. You hurt kids who already know they are ‘different’, and know they are unacceptable to you and people who think like you. You (always plural) cause harm to thousands (not to mention those who you know and love) by your refusal to accept people who have every bit as much right to live and love as you do.

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Instead of spending tax-payer money (or church member money) on working to cause further hurt to people who have been marginalize for a lifetime, why not spend your efforts making it possible for gay couples to live openly as partners, even to be open and legally committed to each other? Why waste everyone’s time and money trying to demonize people who want only to live in peace and have the same basic rights you have?

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Instead of saying “the gay lifestyle” is unhealthy, why not work to make this world safe for gay people (and thereby reduce the incredible stress that comes with having to hide from people with attitudes like yours)? Why not work to assure that everyone has the same basic rights? We are all guaranteed the same basic equal rights by the Constitution, are we not? What makes you more valuable as a human being than another person? Why do you work so hard to keep others in a ‘less than’ status? Would you want to be kept out of your beloved spouse’s hospital room? Would you want the law to take away the shared property you have built together for years and give it to distant relatives? Would you want someone other than your spouse to make decisions about your health care and your end of life wishes? People who can marry have those rights automatically. Gay people must go to great lengths to set up legal documents to protect them from these scenarios.

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Gay people are not the villains you describe. To the contrary, you have set yourself against thousands of good, hard-working, law-abiding, committed individuals who must struggle daily against attitudes like yours (and, the laws that result from those attitudes).

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Rep. Kern (and all those who think and speak like Rep. Kern), why not step back for a moment from this misguided agenda that you push? How about just stopping for a moment and focusing on the words of the One you claim to follow. Jesus never said a negative word about same-sex relationships. But, he certainly said a lot about other things. He said a lot about love. He said a lot about how we should treat each other.

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If you (all who make it your business to say anti-gay things at every opportunity) are really concerned about the health and lives and welfare of gay people, how about following the real teachings of Jesus (not the fund-raising scare tactics anti-gay groups use to line their own pockets and pay their own salaries)? Speaking out against gay people is a big money-maker, because it’s a great way to appeal to ignorance and fear. But, it is not loving. It is not Christian. It is not following the teachings of Christ (as most of the anti-gay groups claim to be doing).

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If you (all of you who make gay people into godless villains) really love gay people (as you claim to) ,and if you are really concerned about the welfare of gay people, and if you really want gay people to be healthy and happy, how about practicing the teachings of the One you claim to follow? You want the health of gay people to improve? How about helping that happen by working to recognize the lives and loves of same-sex couples in a positive way? How about looking around you and seeing that there are not many open and out gay families (although there are more and more) because of the life-long message that gay people are not fully welcomed in this world? Wouldn’t you have some struggles with depression if you were spoken against and lied about daily by people who don’t even know you?

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I wrote to you a few days ago. I know you are swamped with email, so I did not send you my letter. I only posted it here. But, I want to ask you again to consider the harm that you do with your words. I will say again, I am certain that every family (if not nuclear, then extended) has at least one member who does not fit your definition of acceptable (by virtue of being gay), and every person knows at least one person (most likely many more) who is gay (glbt, lgbt). I want to appeal to you again, you and all who think like you, to stop for a moment. Let all that anti-gay noise in your head stop long enough to consider the One you claim to follow, the One you claim to represent with your anti-gay attitudes and words. What Would Jesus Do? There is no question in my mind that Jesus would not say the things you say, and Jesus would not work to pass legislation to guarantee discrimination.

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Rep. Kern, there are resources you can use to learn more about what is true about gay people. The sources you have quoted as your source of truth are not truth at all. I visited some of those sites. I listened to your radio interview. You have surrounded yourself with lies and misinformation. And, you are spreading lies and misinformation. As I said in my previous letter to you, I would like to think you would DO better if you KNEW better. This may not be true. I may be hoping you are a better person than you are. But, I want to believe that if you knew the truth about who gay people are, not just the lies spouted by the anti-gay groups you quote, you’d know better and do better.

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Here are a few links, just a few to get you started. Please visit these sites and learn more about the people you speak against before you speak again.

.

Parents and the Ex-Gay Movement

Soulforce

PFLAG

.

Deborah
Deb’s House Concerts
https://dhconcerts.wordpress.com
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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Deb’s House Concerts

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For more from Oklahoman’s For Equality, visit OKEQ.org

Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern

In this Advocacy Alert

  • OkEq Press Conference
  • Tulsa World editorial
  • More media coverage

Oklahomans for Equality will host a press conference for community leaders to respond to Sally Kern’s remarks against LGBT people and Muslims, and to advocate for the Oklahoma legislature to hear the hate crimes bills currently in committee. Please join us at this event to show your support and solidarity for LGBT Oklahomans.

Press Conference

Thursday, March 13, 2pm, Equality Center

Speakers will include:

  • David Bernstein, Say No to Hate Coalition and the Jewish Federation
  • Jerre B. Fine, former US Air Force linguist
  • Nancy McDonald, Tulsa PFLAG
  • Sheryl Siddiqui, Islamic Society of Tulsa
  • Justice Waidner, Oklahomans for Equality

Tulsa World editorial: “When Scary Met Sally

In 2005, Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) gave the Tulsa World editorial board a Community Hero Award for their courageous stands on LGBT equality. They continue that brave tradition with today’s editorial on the Sally Kern controversy. Please join OkEq in thanking the Tulsa World for their continued commitment to human rights and a better future for Oklahoma by commenting below the story on their website and demonstrating that there is a voice in Oklahoma standing strongly against bigotry and intolerance.


More coverage

OkEq’s Executive Director Justice Waidner and Board President Laura Belmonte’s comment in the Tulsa World: “Kern cites support from GOP

Oklahoma’s gay legislators, Jim Roth and Al McAffrey, respond in the Tulsa World: “Oklahoma legislator’s anti-gay comments stir hostile reaction

Kern retracts claim that she’s getting death threats in the Tulsa World: “OSBI reading Kern e-mails

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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Deb’s House Concerts

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Dear Rep. Kern,

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It has come to my attention that I have been using an incorrect spelling of your name. I have named you in many in posts linking to your words about gay people and the responses of others to your comments. I recognize that words do matter, and I am sure the spelling of your name matters to you.

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Rep. Kern I do not agree in any way with your attitudes towards people who want only have the same legal rights every other American has. In fact, I believe the inverse of some of your comments would be more accurate. In no way do I believe gay people are a threat to this country, a threat worse than terrorism. I do, however, believe that words like yours, spoken by people who hold positions of authority, are a form of bullying and abuse. And, bullying and abuse are, in my opinion, based in the same kind of disrespect that can lead to hate and disrespect for the lives of others. Verbal attacks either come from, or lead to, an attitude of disrespect for those being assaulted. This has the potential to lead to physical attacks. For the person being attacked, there is a very real experience of being terrorized emotionally, verbally and physically.

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Rep. Kern, I want to believe that you are a good and caring person. I want to believe that you are simply unaware of how harmful and cruel your words (and the attitude they express) are. I want to believe that you would DO better if you KNEW better.

.

Rep. Kern, I believe there are many people who, like you, believe they are doing the right thing when they spread misinformation about people they do not understand. Rep. Kern, I must tell you I disagree with you. I do not believe there is anything good or right about spreading misinformation about groups of people, and in so doing, creating the possibility of violence against anyone perceived to be a member of one of those groups. (You have specifically mentioned gay people and people whose religion is Islam.)

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Rep. Kern, I personally believe that every person has family members or friends who are gay. I’ll use the terms gay and homosexual since you did not specifically mention those who are bisexual and those who transgendered or transexual. And, you did not specifically mention the kids who are afraid they might not fit the expectations of family and society and religion, and are seriously considering killing themselves because they are scared to death that they might be “one of those people”. But, I’m talking about all of those. I have no doubt that people who fit these categories are a part of your life. Some are probably even people you love.

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Rep. Kern, one thing humans share is that we are all beings who love and need to be loved. All humans begin life with the possibility of being able to accept other people and value and respect other people. It is only through life experience, and through indoctrination and teaching that tells us some are good and others are bad, that people learn to divide into groups and believe that humans have different degrees of worth, different values.

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Rep. Kern, I imagine that you may be feeling a bit anxious these days, maybe a little defensive, now that the entire world is hearing things you have said. I imagine that you have received many telephone and email messages that were less than loving. May I invite you to imagine that the level of discomfort you feel now is similar to the level of discomfort gay people (and those perceived as gay) experience every day. Now I invite you to imagine someone you dearly love. Would you ever, in your wildest dreams, want your loved one to feel such an intense experience of unease, anxiety or fear for his or her own safety even for a day? Would you want your loved one to experience these things for weeks? months? years? a lifetime?

.

Rep. Kern, life is often like that for those who do not fit your description of how reality should be. More and more people have become active politically, searching for a way to experience the equality and freedom that you take for granted. Those you speak against must struggle to achieve a place of safety and acceptance in this world. The people you speak against are not terrorists, yet your words have the power to encourage acts of terrorism against people perceived to be gay (starting at the level of name calling and bullying). Words matter.

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Rep. Kern, please stop for a moment. Hide away in a quiet place. Think about the people you know. Think about the people you love. Think about your family members and your friends. I do not know any of the people in your life. But, I imagine that you have at least one, if not several, who are deeply hurt every day by your attitudes against them. In my desire to believe that you want to do the right thing, I also want to believe that you would not have or speak the views you have expressed if you realized how much you are hurting the people you love.

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Rep. Kern, I would like to think that many who hold your same views would be saddened if they realized how their words and attitudes hurt those they love. I would hope that you, and others who believe as you, will examine your own hearts and find the love you feel for your own family and your own friends. I hope you will know that the people you speak out against are families and friends, too. People are people, Rep. Kern. Humans are humans. We are all more alike than we will ever be different.

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I want to be open to you, Rep. Kern. I want to believe that you have it in you to recognize that you have more points in common with every other human than you have differences. I ask you to recognize and acknowledge how people are alike. I ask you to treat each person with decency and dignity and respect. We are all the same. Humans are humans. Every person wants to live in a world where he or she is respected and accepted. Every person wants to live in a world where life and love and freedom are a given for every person.

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Rep. Kern, I want to treat you with basic human dignity and respect. I believe every person deserves that much. I hope that you, in the deep and secret places of your heart, will find and nurture that belief, too.

.
Deborah
Deb’s House Concerts
https://dhconcerts.wordpress.com
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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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[UPDATE: March 19, 2008 –

This morning I read a post by Chris at Citizen Crane talking about the urban legend that has sprung up around Sally Kern. One of the aspects of the legend is the Tucker letter (below).

To date, this young man has not been identified in person. So, the actual source of this letter is in question.

The unanswered question about who authored this letter takes nothing away from the fact that this is an excellent letter and makes some very important points. I do hope that if Tucker is the child of a woman who died in the OKC bombing, he will come forth publicly and claim ownership of this excellent letter.]

You can read Tucker’s letter at PHB (with comments by others who’ve read it), or read it below:

Rep Kern:

On April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City a terrorist detonated a bomb that killed my mother and 167 others. 19 children died that day. Had I not had the chicken pox that day, the body count would’ve likely have included one more. Over 800 other Oklahomans were injured that day and many of those still suffer through their permanent wounds.

That terrorist was neither a homosexual or was he involved in Islam. He was an extremist Christian forcing his views through a body count. He held his beliefs and made those who didn’t live up to them pay with their lives.

As you were not a resident of Oklahoma on that day, it could be explained why you so carelessly chose words saying that the homosexual agenda is worst than terrorism. I can most certainly tell you through my own experience that is not true. I am sure there are many people in your voting district that laid a loved one to death after the terrorist attack on Oklahoma City. I kind of doubt you’ll find one of them that will agree with you.

I was five years old when my mother died. I remember what a beautiful, wise, and remarkable woman she was. I miss her. Your harsh words and misguided beliefs brought me to tears, because you told me that my mother’s killer was a better person than a group of people that are seeking safety and tolerance for themselves.

As someone left motherless and victimized by terrorists, I say to you very clearly you are absolutely wrong.

You represent a district in Oklahoma City and you very coldly express a lack of love, sympathy or understanding for what they’ve been through. Can I ask if you might have chosen wiser words were you a real Oklahoman that was here to share the suffering with Oklahoma City? Might your heart be a bit less cold had you been around to see the small bodies of children being pulled out of rubble and carried away by weeping firemen?

I’ve spent 12 years in Oklahoma public schools and never once have I had anyone try to force a gay agenda on me. I have seen, however, many gay students beat up and there’s never a day in school that has went by when I haven’t heard the word **** slung at someone. I’ve been called gay slurs many times and they hurt and I am not even gay so I can just imagine how a real gay person feels. You were a school teacher and you have seen those things too. How could you care so little about the suffering of some of your students?

Let me tell you the result of your words in my school. Every openly gay and suspected gay in the school were having to walk together Monday for protection. They looked scared. They’ve already experienced enough hate and now your words gave other students even more motivation to sneer at them and call them names. Afterall, you are a teacher and a lawmaker, many young people have taken your words to heart. That happens when you assume a role of responsibility in your community. I seriously think before this week ends that some kids here will be going home bruised and bloody because of what you said.

I wish you could’ve met my mom. Maybe she could’ve guided you in how a real Christian should be acting and speaking.

I have not had a mother for nearly 13 years now and wonder if there were fewer people like you around, people with more love and tolerance in their hearts instead of strife, if my mom would be here to watch me graduate from high school this spring. Now she won’t be there. So I’ll be packing my things and leaving Oklahoma to go to college elsewhere and one day be a writer and I have no intentions to ever return here. I have no doubt that people like you will incite crazy people to build more bombs and kill more people again. I don’t want to be here for that. I just can’t go through that again.

You may just see me as a kid, but let me try to teach you something. The old saying is sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Well, your words hurt me. Your words disrespected the memory of my mom. Your words can cause others to pick up sticks and stones and hurt others.

Sincerely

Tucker

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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Deb’s House Concerts

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As usual, Ellen uses good humor and her likable personality to bring attention to this important issue.

Good As You said:

As promised, here’s Ellen’s take on the Sally Kern situation:

 

It remains to be seen if Kern will return Ellen’s call. First she must do her research on whether or not the virus of gayness is transmittable via audible phone chats.

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More about Sally Kern on Deb’s House Concerts:
I’m Listening March 8, 2008
Good As You responds to Sally Kearn’s response to the public’s response to her … March 10, 2008
Oklahomans for Equality Denounce Rep. Sally Kearn’s Anti-Gay Speech March 11, 2008
KOCO Oklahoma City News 5 talks to Sally Kearn, Chuck Wolfe of the Victory Fund, Oklahoma Muslims March 12, 2008
Good As You posts video of Ellen Degeneres calling Oklahoma Representative Sally Kearn March 12, 2008
Absolutely beautiful letter, thoughtful and well written, from an Oklahoma high school senior who lost his mother in the Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack (to OK Rep. Sally Kearn who said gay people are worse than terrorists) March 13, 2008
My Apology to Sally Kern (formerly referred to as Sally Kearn) March 13, 2008
Advocacy Alert: Oklahomans for Equality hosts press conference regarding Rep. Sally Kern March 13, 2008
Sally, Sally, Sally. You said it’s your right to say anti-gay things. What happened to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? March 16, 2008
Calling People Terrorists March 17, 2008
Oklahoma Families to Rally at State Capitol and Call for Meeting with Representative Sally Kern * Solidarity Vigil in Tulsa March 18, 2008
Sally Kern, by your definition, you are not a thinker. March 20, 2008
What Sally Has Wrought March 20, 2008

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Read Full Post »

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