Homophobic Legislator Finally Meets With PFLAG  | News | Advocate.com

||  News  ||
March 28, 2008
Homophobic Legislator Finally Meets With PFLAG

Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern finally consented to meet with the LGBT advocacy group, after her shockingly antigay comments were posted online earlier this month.

Members and friends of the Oklahoma City chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays met with Kern on Thursday to discuss her now famously antigay tirade, delivered to a small group of local Republicans. Secretly recorded and posted online later by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, the comments sparked outrage among gay rights activists across the nation.

The group had requested an earlier meeting with the legislator following a March 18 rally at the state capitol, but she refused. In Thursday's meeting, Kern conceded that gays and lesbians should not be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation, according to a press release by the PFLAG chapter. Kern did not, however, apologize for her earlier statements.

"We appreciate Representative Kern taking the time to meet with us and consider an important, ongoing dialogue about our families and loved ones," chapter president the Reverend Loyce Newton-Edwards said in the press release. "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."

In her original remarks, Kern called LGBT people a "cancer" that is "just destroying this nation." She also said that gays are a bigger threat to America than terrorism.

Newton-Edwards—along with Dr. Reverend Kathy McCallie, pastor of the Church of the Open Arms, and the Reverend Jim Shields, a retired United Methodist Church minister—used the meeting to explain to Kern why her words were particularly hurtful to them.

"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." (The Advocate)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Be the first to comment on this story.

Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

Comments that do not concern specific articles in The Advocate or on Advocate.com will not be posted or published. See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.