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)
