What's This Gay Shit?
This entry contains swearing. You've been alerted.
Follow-ups on the bigoted fanatic, Rep. Sally Kern:
Oklahoma legislator defends leaked anti-gay comments.
Highlights:
On March 10, 2008, Rep. Sally Kern made the following statement, released through the Oklahoma House of Representatives' Media Division:
“To put this simply, as a Christian I believe homosexuality is not moral. Obviously, you have the right as an American to choose that lifestyle, but I also have the right to express my views and my fellow Oklahomans have the right to debate these issues.
“In recent years homosexual activists have begun to aggressively promote their agenda through the political process, often providing substantial financing to candidates who agree with their views, including many running for state legislative races. National publications such as Time, The Atlantic and USA Today have noted that trend. That is their right, just as it is my right to voice opposition to their agenda, which I have been asked to do at several public forums in recent months. That’s what democracy is all about. It appears some homosexual activists believe only one group is allowed a voice in this debate. I disagree.
“A vigorous debate on an issue is not ‘hate speech’ - it’s free speech. I have made clear my opposition to the agenda of homosexual activists, but I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will. The fact that many gay rights activists claim anyone opposing their agenda is engaging in ‘hate speech’ says more about them than me.
“Most Oklahomans are socially conservative and believe marriage is a sacred institution, the union of one man and one woman, and that the traditional family is worth protecting and preserving. When I campaigned for office, I promised my constituents to stand up for those values, and I do not apologize for keeping my word."
Oklahoma legislator's anti-gay comments stir hostile reaction.
Highlights:
"I was talking about an agenda. I was not talking about individuals," said Kern, the wife of a Baptist minister. "They have the right to choose that lifestyle. They do not have the right to force it down our throat.
"I have never said hate speech against anybody. I would never do that."
Kern said she has received more than 3,000 e-mails and hundreds of telephone calls since her comments were posted online. She said a few supported her comments but that most condemned them and that some contained death threats and obscenities.
She has the right to choose her bass-ackwards sphincter-sniffing lifestyle, but she doesn't have the right to force it down our throats.
Amazing how almost every word out of her mouth is either lies, bullshit, or unintentionally ironic.
Kern cites support from GOP.
Highlights:
A state lawmaker who declared that homosexuality is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism said Monday that she received a standing ovation from her fellow Republican legislators Monday.
Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said she has been barraged with more than 5,000 e-mails since she made national headlines over the weekend. Most of the communications were critical, and several contained language that Kern said she has never heard before. . . .
Kern said many of those who sent her electronic messages would deny her right to free speech.
Language she'd never heard before, eh? So in her many years of self-righteous bigotry, nobody had ever called her a turgid, bile-soaked shitbag?
Nobody had ever referred to her as a cheese-crusted, horsefucking, yeasty old cunt?
Nobody ever told her to shut her cockholster and get back in the kitchen?
Nobody ever invited her to climb a wall of dicks?*
Nobody ever offered to skullfuck that rancid puree of goat testicle and pig's vomit that she calls a brain right out of her head?
Nobody ever issued her a fuck-yourself invitation to an eat shit and die party, where she could drink a frosty mug of shut the fuck up and have a slice of fuck-you-upside-down-cake?
And nobody ever offered to use the rolled-up New Testament to funnel live spiders up her leathery ass until they came crawling out of her glassy, fanatical eyeballs?
I find that very fucking hard to believe.
I also find it hard to believe she can't understand that this isn't about "free speech," it's about not being a hatemongering, pus-filled douchebag. It's about not using your position of political power to promote lies and hate.
OSBI reading Kern e-mails.
Highlights:
Kern said Monday that she had not received death threats. On Tuesday, she said, "It's changed," but she did not elaborate.
[Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica] Brown said Tuesday, "There are a lot of e-mails to the representative that say, 'You ought to die,' rather than, 'I am going to kill you.'
"I wouldn't characterize them as death threats," she said.
But Brown said OSBI computer analysts are working to find the senders and that some might be interviewed to assess their intent. She said it's possible that the OSBI will refer some to district attorneys for prosecution.
Three OSBI agents are reviewing the e-mails and listening to telephone calls received by Kern, whose husband is a Baptist minister.
If she has received genuine death threats ("I am going to come to your house and beat you to death with a double-ended dog-dick dildo!") as opposed to helpful suggestions and best wishes ("Why don't you choke to death on mule smegma? I hope you die of an explosive ass prolapse!"), that is unfortunate, because it's only going to play straight into her worst opinions. On the other hand, it's nice to know that she now understands the tiniest bit of how it feels to be fucking hated and loathed, as she seems to have this idea that gay people have so much power and influence that nobody ever gives them any grief at all, and they get everything they want.
A lot of straight fundie Christians have this persecution thing going on, and they really have no fucking idea just how good they have it. I'm glad to know she's getting a taste of her own horseshit flavored medicine.
She has reportedly gotten over 5,000 emails, which I think is far fewer than she deserves. The majority of them, unsurprisingly, have been "critical."
I encourage those of you who have not written to write, even if it's just a one-line email saying that you heard her remarks, and that you think that in her utter, bigoted incompetence, she should be removed from office.
At any rate, think about giving the OSBI folks something interesting to read. I'm sure many of them must find her words just as vile as we do. Why not brighten their day?
I wrote a letter, the text of which is below.
***
Mrs. Kern --
As a bisexual Oklahoman with many beloved gay friends, I can't help but be struck personally by your words.
"The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation; it's just a fact."
I've never met a homosexual with an "agenda." The only "agenda" most homosexuals have is the same sort of "agenda" that any person has: 1) go grocery shopping, 2) do laundry, 3) go to work, 4) live free and happy, with equality. If you truly believe this nation is being destroyed by the notion of equality, I suggest you retire from politics, as you have clearly missed the entire point of democracy. (If it's not equality you're objecting to, perhaps you could tell me what is so terrible about all those subversive gays-only grocery stores and laundromats. Actually, I could use a good list of gays-only grocery stores and laundromats, since as near as I can tell, straight people are pretty much everywhere. You probably have a list of thoes sorts of businesses so you can boycott them, right? Would you mind passing it along so I can give them my business? That is, while I'm still alive, since I'm apparently going to die young because of that whole "being gay is bad for you" thing.)
"Not everybody's lifestyle is equal, just like not all religions are equal."
Wrong.
Under the law, all men and women are equal, and religion and the law are separate. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and all that.
You are not the final judge of anyone's equality. Though you may disapprove, it is not your duty nor your right to attempt to force others to adhere to your lifestyle or your religion. As a private citizen, you can sneer and spit on other private citizens all you like. As a lawmaker, better is expected of you. It is possible to believe in the rightness of one's own lifestyle without condemning others for theirs.
"The very fact that I'm talking to you like this here today puts me in jeopardy. . . . 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 suicide, they're more discouraged, there's more illness, their lifespans are shorter."
In jeopardy? In a world where people who are openly gay are murdered for it? I somehow doubt you are at much risk compared to the men, women, and children who have been victims of violence against homosexuals. Homosexuality certainly does have deadly consequences for those who are unlucky enough to run afoul of narrow-minded, dangerous bigots. God's word says nothing about homosexuality, and even the Biblical passages that have been misinterpreted to apply to homosexuality are not passages that involve words directly from Christ's mouth. They are either in the Old Testament, which also states that we should not eat shellfish, wear clothing of two different materials, or allow women to teach; or they are in the New Testament, in the letters from Paul. Your Jesus, the final authority on all things Christian, never said a word against homosexuals, though he did have some choice words about hypocrites. As for your statistics, they are in serious doubt. A greater understanding of science, medicine, and statistics might benefit you in understanding how you have been manipulated into believing complete lies.
"You know, it's not a lifestyle that's good for this nation. You know, studies show, no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted for more than, you know, a few decades. So it's the death knell for this country."
A greater understanding of human history might also benefit you as well, though as a teacher I would expect you to know better. Why not start with the "few decades" the Greeks were preeminent, or the "few decades" allotted to the Roman Empire? Shouldn't be hard to brush up on, what, a hundred or so years of history, right?
I personally think the death knell for this country sounds every time another civil right is denied to a fellow human being.
"I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even moreso than terrorism or Islam, which I think's a big threat."
And again, your ignorance and bigotry shows. Islam, itself, is no more or less dangerous than any religion. The opinions and actions of its more radical, fundamentalist members should not be held against the whole, any more than the opinions and actions of Christian fundamentalists should be held against all Christians.
I should think that the parallels between the religiously-motivated hatred of many terrorists - including such "Christian" terrorists as Tim McVeigh -- and the religiously-motivated hatred you are spewing would be obvious, Mrs. Kern; it is hate and intolerance that are the greatest threat to our nation -- indeed, to any nation. Yet you insist that it is homosexuals. They are the scapegoat for all of society's evils. How convenient for you. You are not so different, in that regard, from those whom you condemn as "threats." You justify your hate with your religion.
So, Mrs. Kern, what do you propose we do about this "threat?" Should I and every other bisexual, homosexual, or transgender person be locked in prison for being worse than a terrorist? If you're going to say these sorts of things, you have to be ready to propose solutions. I want to know exactly what you'd like to do with us. Have us under constant watch? Remove our right to vote? Take away our children and our jobs? Make us wear badges? Deport us? "Detain" us in prison camps? What would be enough, Mrs. Kern, to make you feel safe from this "threat" we present?
And while you're at it, would you mind telling me how, exactly, insisting that people not treat one another like dirt based on what they do with one another, consensually, in the privacy of their own homes, is a "threat?" Can you articulate that for me? Can you tell me why the idea of treating homosexuals with civility and awarding them the same civil rights given to heterosexuals is so terrifying to you? Can you tell me why homosexuals are less deserving of human rights without resorting to what you think the Bible says? Can you give me a single reason that homosexuals should not be treated as human under the law? Is it because you believe they are less than human?
"What's happening now, they are going after -- in schools -- two year olds. That's why they're trying to get early childhood education. They want to get our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them."
Having grown up in the exact same school system you speak of -- the Oklahoma public school system -- I can safely say that I experienced far more homophobia than indoctrination in my schoolroom days. In fact, I experienced no indoctrination at all; at least, not of the homosexual variety. There is some indoctrination in our schools, though, as you ought to know. You're a big advocate of putting it there.
"I taught school for close to twenty years, and we're not teaching facts and knowledge anymore, folks. We're teaching indoctrination."
Well, you're right about that. Whether it is the myth that the world was created in six days, or the myth that abstinence is the only acceptable and effective form of birth control, it is absolutely indoctrination of the most disgusting and damaging kind. Creationism and abstinence education are about as far from fact and knowledge as it is possible to get.
The irony is that you will probably never be able to see that your own viewpoint, which is even less open to debate and criticism than those you claim oppose you, is the narrower one, and that it is people like you who most readily seek to indoctrinate. I find it terrifying that a person as blinkered and bigoted as you has served with children in any capacity. If I had children, I would never trust them around someone as ignorant and hateful as you, for fear that they might be indoctrinated into your culture of hatred. Though, really, I trust that even at two years old, my children would have more sense than to listen to someone spewing such blatantly ridiculous, hateful nonsense.
"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."
Heaven forfend that children be taught the truth.
The homosexual lifestyle. What does that mean? Every homosexual I know lives pretty much like the straight people I know, with the exception that the homosexuals of my acquaintance seem less interested in condemning the lifestyles of those who live differently from them. Their general policy of live and let live is, to me, a pretty acceptable lifestyle.
"Gays are infiltrating city councils. Eureka Springs -- anyone been there for the Passion Play? Have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays? There are some others. . . . What's happening is they are winning elections."
Thank you for the list of better places to move.
If Christian sects can push to have their candidates elected, if they can donate large amounts of money to promote their beliefs, homosexuals have that right, as well. And if people are voting for them, it can only mean that they are tired of the "Christian" message of intolerance, and are no longer willing to accept candidates who, like you, seem bent on forcing their views on a populace which does not share them.
"One of the things I deal with in our legislature I tried to introduce a bill last year that would notify parents, schools had to let parents know what clubs their children were involved in. And the reason I did that bill primarily was this: we had the Gay Straight Alliance coming into our schools. 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."
How can a child's life be ruined by joining a club that promotes fellowship and equality? A person's sexual orientation is not controlled by others. You cannot put a heterosexual child in a dark room, show him gay recruitment videos (which, in case you aren't acquainted with sarcasm, do not actually exist), and have him emerge with the sudden desire to have sex with other boys. Likewise, you cannot put a homosexual in a dark room, show him straight recruitment videos, and expect him to emerge heterosexual. Human sexuality does not work that way. If you find yourself confused on this matter, courses in human sexuality are relatively easy to come by. There are even books you can read, many of them written by heterosexuals.
"One of my colleagues said 'We don't have a gay problem in my community, and that's why I voted against that bill.' Well you know what, that is so dumb. If you have cancer in your little toe, do you just say that I'm going to forget about it since the rest of you is fine? It spreads! This stuff is deadly and it is spreading and it will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation."
So. We are a cancer. Is that it? And we should be . . . cut out? Poisoned? Put out of our misery?
I am disgusted with you. Utterly disgusted. I am a Republican, an Oklahoman, a woman, and I am bisexual. I contribute to charity, I pay my taxes, and I abide by the law. I am an artist and a writer. I have three cats. I have been married for nearly thirteen years. I like to read fantasy novels, I love apples, I really enjoy old pirate movies, and I sing while I am in the car. I sleep with a stuffed rabbit. I am allergic to wool. I recently lost my mother. I can't juggle or swim, no matter how I try. I make excellent gingerbread cookies. And I am sexually attracted to wonderful people, regardless of their gender. I am a human being. I am a good person. I am not destroying anyone. I am not destroying this country. I am not part of any problem.
People like you are part of the problem.
You think it's unfair that you were recorded without your knowledge? Tough luck. I think it's unfair that someone like you was elected to represent people like me, and I am glad that you have been unveiled for the hateful, hypocritical, savage that you are.
There is nothing wrong with exercising your freedom of speech. There is something wrong with promoting hatred and spewing ignorant nonsense when you are an elected representative to whom people look for leadership. When you speak, Mrs. Kern, you are not speaking as a private individual. You are speaking as a public official. And your words are an affront to all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, their families, their friends, and all forward-thinking Americans. They are an embarrassment to all Oklahomans and Republicans, and I should hope that after due reflection they are an embarrassment to you.
Your hateful ignorance is one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed, and I honestly hope that your eyes are opened to the truth: that it's not gay vs. straight, it's love vs. hate. And you had best take a long, hard look at which side of that line you are standing on. You cannot speak poison and say "but I'm not being hateful" without telling a lie. You claim not to hate homosexuals, but it is perfectly obvious that in your heart you are full of hate and fear for that which you have not bothered to understand.
There's a saying in this book I read once about not judging others, and another saying about casting stones. I think there's even one about "love thy neighbor." Maybe you could help me to recall exactly how those go. That is, if you even care to remember them at all. Or if you've ever even read that book for yourself.
Yours in utter disgust,
Amanda Gannon
***
And this letter has surfaced, supposedly by a teenage boy named Tucker.
I don't know if it's real, if it is, it is absolutely heartbreaking. I think it ought to be read, and it ought to be emailed to Mrs. Kern repeatedly.
***
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
***
If Tucker is a real boy, and this is a real letter, and his is a real story, I wish him the best in getting the fuck out of here. And I hope his words find whatever shriveled monkey turd Mrs. Kern has for a heart and sink deeply in.
Words have power, and I don't think that reprehensible asswits like her really realize the damage they are capable of doing. Hateful religious choads hardly ever understand the repercussions their words have when filtered through the bullshit-stuffed brains of those even less intelligent than they are. People looking to be led are dangerous, and they will do dangerous things. It's fanaticism. I have seen it at work.
I remember April 19, 1995. I remember the Pulitzer-winning photo, the grief-filled and tender look on the fireman's face as he cradled the dying Baylee Almon. As much as I loathe playing to the "poor little children" angle, that was sincerely one of the most upsetting things I have ever seen in my life. Watching it unfold on the news was like a nightmare.
That was the work of a "Christian." And Mrs. Kern would have us believe that it's those pesky faggots who are the real threat.
If I were running for mayor, would she find my urge to make passionate love to Angelina Jolie's left thigh more horrifying than my occasional urge to throttle mouth-breathing fundamentalist troglodytes? Apparently so, since Mrs. Kern thinks the idea of a homosexual elected to public office is more frightening than the cooling corpse of a child.
A fag in office is scarier than a dead baby.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the priorities of the conservative Christian.
Rep. Sally Kern
Capitol Address:
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 332
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7348
District Address:
2713 Sterling Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73127
Email:
sallykern@okhouse.gov
Edit: Apparently her priorities may also include putting fanaticism ahead of her own children. Rumor has it that Mrs. Kern has a gay son. There is some very interesting psychoanalysis going on at the end of the article re: her paranoia about gays. I don't know if any of this is true, but if it is . . . things could get very interesting.
* Can't take credit for that one. Sorry.
Follow-ups on the bigoted fanatic, Rep. Sally Kern:
Oklahoma legislator defends leaked anti-gay comments.
Highlights:
On March 10, 2008, Rep. Sally Kern made the following statement, released through the Oklahoma House of Representatives' Media Division:
“To put this simply, as a Christian I believe homosexuality is not moral. Obviously, you have the right as an American to choose that lifestyle, but I also have the right to express my views and my fellow Oklahomans have the right to debate these issues.
“In recent years homosexual activists have begun to aggressively promote their agenda through the political process, often providing substantial financing to candidates who agree with their views, including many running for state legislative races. National publications such as Time, The Atlantic and USA Today have noted that trend. That is their right, just as it is my right to voice opposition to their agenda, which I have been asked to do at several public forums in recent months. That’s what democracy is all about. It appears some homosexual activists believe only one group is allowed a voice in this debate. I disagree.
“A vigorous debate on an issue is not ‘hate speech’ - it’s free speech. I have made clear my opposition to the agenda of homosexual activists, but I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will. The fact that many gay rights activists claim anyone opposing their agenda is engaging in ‘hate speech’ says more about them than me.
“Most Oklahomans are socially conservative and believe marriage is a sacred institution, the union of one man and one woman, and that the traditional family is worth protecting and preserving. When I campaigned for office, I promised my constituents to stand up for those values, and I do not apologize for keeping my word."
Oklahoma legislator's anti-gay comments stir hostile reaction.
Highlights:
"I was talking about an agenda. I was not talking about individuals," said Kern, the wife of a Baptist minister. "They have the right to choose that lifestyle. They do not have the right to force it down our throat.
"I have never said hate speech against anybody. I would never do that."
Kern said she has received more than 3,000 e-mails and hundreds of telephone calls since her comments were posted online. She said a few supported her comments but that most condemned them and that some contained death threats and obscenities.
She has the right to choose her bass-ackwards sphincter-sniffing lifestyle, but she doesn't have the right to force it down our throats.
Amazing how almost every word out of her mouth is either lies, bullshit, or unintentionally ironic.
Kern cites support from GOP.
Highlights:
A state lawmaker who declared that homosexuality is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism said Monday that she received a standing ovation from her fellow Republican legislators Monday.
Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said she has been barraged with more than 5,000 e-mails since she made national headlines over the weekend. Most of the communications were critical, and several contained language that Kern said she has never heard before. . . .
Kern said many of those who sent her electronic messages would deny her right to free speech.
Language she'd never heard before, eh? So in her many years of self-righteous bigotry, nobody had ever called her a turgid, bile-soaked shitbag?
Nobody had ever referred to her as a cheese-crusted, horsefucking, yeasty old cunt?
Nobody ever told her to shut her cockholster and get back in the kitchen?
Nobody ever invited her to climb a wall of dicks?*
Nobody ever offered to skullfuck that rancid puree of goat testicle and pig's vomit that she calls a brain right out of her head?
Nobody ever issued her a fuck-yourself invitation to an eat shit and die party, where she could drink a frosty mug of shut the fuck up and have a slice of fuck-you-upside-down-cake?
And nobody ever offered to use the rolled-up New Testament to funnel live spiders up her leathery ass until they came crawling out of her glassy, fanatical eyeballs?
I find that very fucking hard to believe.
I also find it hard to believe she can't understand that this isn't about "free speech," it's about not being a hatemongering, pus-filled douchebag. It's about not using your position of political power to promote lies and hate.
OSBI reading Kern e-mails.
Highlights:
Kern said Monday that she had not received death threats. On Tuesday, she said, "It's changed," but she did not elaborate.
[Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica] Brown said Tuesday, "There are a lot of e-mails to the representative that say, 'You ought to die,' rather than, 'I am going to kill you.'
"I wouldn't characterize them as death threats," she said.
But Brown said OSBI computer analysts are working to find the senders and that some might be interviewed to assess their intent. She said it's possible that the OSBI will refer some to district attorneys for prosecution.
Three OSBI agents are reviewing the e-mails and listening to telephone calls received by Kern, whose husband is a Baptist minister.
If she has received genuine death threats ("I am going to come to your house and beat you to death with a double-ended dog-dick dildo!") as opposed to helpful suggestions and best wishes ("Why don't you choke to death on mule smegma? I hope you die of an explosive ass prolapse!"), that is unfortunate, because it's only going to play straight into her worst opinions. On the other hand, it's nice to know that she now understands the tiniest bit of how it feels to be fucking hated and loathed, as she seems to have this idea that gay people have so much power and influence that nobody ever gives them any grief at all, and they get everything they want.
A lot of straight fundie Christians have this persecution thing going on, and they really have no fucking idea just how good they have it. I'm glad to know she's getting a taste of her own horseshit flavored medicine.
She has reportedly gotten over 5,000 emails, which I think is far fewer than she deserves. The majority of them, unsurprisingly, have been "critical."
I encourage those of you who have not written to write, even if it's just a one-line email saying that you heard her remarks, and that you think that in her utter, bigoted incompetence, she should be removed from office.
At any rate, think about giving the OSBI folks something interesting to read. I'm sure many of them must find her words just as vile as we do. Why not brighten their day?
I wrote a letter, the text of which is below.
***
Mrs. Kern --
As a bisexual Oklahoman with many beloved gay friends, I can't help but be struck personally by your words.
"The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation; it's just a fact."
I've never met a homosexual with an "agenda." The only "agenda" most homosexuals have is the same sort of "agenda" that any person has: 1) go grocery shopping, 2) do laundry, 3) go to work, 4) live free and happy, with equality. If you truly believe this nation is being destroyed by the notion of equality, I suggest you retire from politics, as you have clearly missed the entire point of democracy. (If it's not equality you're objecting to, perhaps you could tell me what is so terrible about all those subversive gays-only grocery stores and laundromats. Actually, I could use a good list of gays-only grocery stores and laundromats, since as near as I can tell, straight people are pretty much everywhere. You probably have a list of thoes sorts of businesses so you can boycott them, right? Would you mind passing it along so I can give them my business? That is, while I'm still alive, since I'm apparently going to die young because of that whole "being gay is bad for you" thing.)
"Not everybody's lifestyle is equal, just like not all religions are equal."
Wrong.
Under the law, all men and women are equal, and religion and the law are separate. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and all that.
You are not the final judge of anyone's equality. Though you may disapprove, it is not your duty nor your right to attempt to force others to adhere to your lifestyle or your religion. As a private citizen, you can sneer and spit on other private citizens all you like. As a lawmaker, better is expected of you. It is possible to believe in the rightness of one's own lifestyle without condemning others for theirs.
"The very fact that I'm talking to you like this here today puts me in jeopardy. . . . 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 suicide, they're more discouraged, there's more illness, their lifespans are shorter."
In jeopardy? In a world where people who are openly gay are murdered for it? I somehow doubt you are at much risk compared to the men, women, and children who have been victims of violence against homosexuals. Homosexuality certainly does have deadly consequences for those who are unlucky enough to run afoul of narrow-minded, dangerous bigots. God's word says nothing about homosexuality, and even the Biblical passages that have been misinterpreted to apply to homosexuality are not passages that involve words directly from Christ's mouth. They are either in the Old Testament, which also states that we should not eat shellfish, wear clothing of two different materials, or allow women to teach; or they are in the New Testament, in the letters from Paul. Your Jesus, the final authority on all things Christian, never said a word against homosexuals, though he did have some choice words about hypocrites. As for your statistics, they are in serious doubt. A greater understanding of science, medicine, and statistics might benefit you in understanding how you have been manipulated into believing complete lies.
"You know, it's not a lifestyle that's good for this nation. You know, studies show, no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted for more than, you know, a few decades. So it's the death knell for this country."
A greater understanding of human history might also benefit you as well, though as a teacher I would expect you to know better. Why not start with the "few decades" the Greeks were preeminent, or the "few decades" allotted to the Roman Empire? Shouldn't be hard to brush up on, what, a hundred or so years of history, right?
I personally think the death knell for this country sounds every time another civil right is denied to a fellow human being.
"I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even moreso than terrorism or Islam, which I think's a big threat."
And again, your ignorance and bigotry shows. Islam, itself, is no more or less dangerous than any religion. The opinions and actions of its more radical, fundamentalist members should not be held against the whole, any more than the opinions and actions of Christian fundamentalists should be held against all Christians.
I should think that the parallels between the religiously-motivated hatred of many terrorists - including such "Christian" terrorists as Tim McVeigh -- and the religiously-motivated hatred you are spewing would be obvious, Mrs. Kern; it is hate and intolerance that are the greatest threat to our nation -- indeed, to any nation. Yet you insist that it is homosexuals. They are the scapegoat for all of society's evils. How convenient for you. You are not so different, in that regard, from those whom you condemn as "threats." You justify your hate with your religion.
So, Mrs. Kern, what do you propose we do about this "threat?" Should I and every other bisexual, homosexual, or transgender person be locked in prison for being worse than a terrorist? If you're going to say these sorts of things, you have to be ready to propose solutions. I want to know exactly what you'd like to do with us. Have us under constant watch? Remove our right to vote? Take away our children and our jobs? Make us wear badges? Deport us? "Detain" us in prison camps? What would be enough, Mrs. Kern, to make you feel safe from this "threat" we present?
And while you're at it, would you mind telling me how, exactly, insisting that people not treat one another like dirt based on what they do with one another, consensually, in the privacy of their own homes, is a "threat?" Can you articulate that for me? Can you tell me why the idea of treating homosexuals with civility and awarding them the same civil rights given to heterosexuals is so terrifying to you? Can you tell me why homosexuals are less deserving of human rights without resorting to what you think the Bible says? Can you give me a single reason that homosexuals should not be treated as human under the law? Is it because you believe they are less than human?
"What's happening now, they are going after -- in schools -- two year olds. That's why they're trying to get early childhood education. They want to get our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them."
Having grown up in the exact same school system you speak of -- the Oklahoma public school system -- I can safely say that I experienced far more homophobia than indoctrination in my schoolroom days. In fact, I experienced no indoctrination at all; at least, not of the homosexual variety. There is some indoctrination in our schools, though, as you ought to know. You're a big advocate of putting it there.
"I taught school for close to twenty years, and we're not teaching facts and knowledge anymore, folks. We're teaching indoctrination."
Well, you're right about that. Whether it is the myth that the world was created in six days, or the myth that abstinence is the only acceptable and effective form of birth control, it is absolutely indoctrination of the most disgusting and damaging kind. Creationism and abstinence education are about as far from fact and knowledge as it is possible to get.
The irony is that you will probably never be able to see that your own viewpoint, which is even less open to debate and criticism than those you claim oppose you, is the narrower one, and that it is people like you who most readily seek to indoctrinate. I find it terrifying that a person as blinkered and bigoted as you has served with children in any capacity. If I had children, I would never trust them around someone as ignorant and hateful as you, for fear that they might be indoctrinated into your culture of hatred. Though, really, I trust that even at two years old, my children would have more sense than to listen to someone spewing such blatantly ridiculous, hateful nonsense.
"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."
Heaven forfend that children be taught the truth.
The homosexual lifestyle. What does that mean? Every homosexual I know lives pretty much like the straight people I know, with the exception that the homosexuals of my acquaintance seem less interested in condemning the lifestyles of those who live differently from them. Their general policy of live and let live is, to me, a pretty acceptable lifestyle.
"Gays are infiltrating city councils. Eureka Springs -- anyone been there for the Passion Play? Have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays? There are some others. . . . What's happening is they are winning elections."
Thank you for the list of better places to move.
If Christian sects can push to have their candidates elected, if they can donate large amounts of money to promote their beliefs, homosexuals have that right, as well. And if people are voting for them, it can only mean that they are tired of the "Christian" message of intolerance, and are no longer willing to accept candidates who, like you, seem bent on forcing their views on a populace which does not share them.
"One of the things I deal with in our legislature I tried to introduce a bill last year that would notify parents, schools had to let parents know what clubs their children were involved in. And the reason I did that bill primarily was this: we had the Gay Straight Alliance coming into our schools. 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."
How can a child's life be ruined by joining a club that promotes fellowship and equality? A person's sexual orientation is not controlled by others. You cannot put a heterosexual child in a dark room, show him gay recruitment videos (which, in case you aren't acquainted with sarcasm, do not actually exist), and have him emerge with the sudden desire to have sex with other boys. Likewise, you cannot put a homosexual in a dark room, show him straight recruitment videos, and expect him to emerge heterosexual. Human sexuality does not work that way. If you find yourself confused on this matter, courses in human sexuality are relatively easy to come by. There are even books you can read, many of them written by heterosexuals.
"One of my colleagues said 'We don't have a gay problem in my community, and that's why I voted against that bill.' Well you know what, that is so dumb. If you have cancer in your little toe, do you just say that I'm going to forget about it since the rest of you is fine? It spreads! This stuff is deadly and it is spreading and it will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation."
So. We are a cancer. Is that it? And we should be . . . cut out? Poisoned? Put out of our misery?
I am disgusted with you. Utterly disgusted. I am a Republican, an Oklahoman, a woman, and I am bisexual. I contribute to charity, I pay my taxes, and I abide by the law. I am an artist and a writer. I have three cats. I have been married for nearly thirteen years. I like to read fantasy novels, I love apples, I really enjoy old pirate movies, and I sing while I am in the car. I sleep with a stuffed rabbit. I am allergic to wool. I recently lost my mother. I can't juggle or swim, no matter how I try. I make excellent gingerbread cookies. And I am sexually attracted to wonderful people, regardless of their gender. I am a human being. I am a good person. I am not destroying anyone. I am not destroying this country. I am not part of any problem.
People like you are part of the problem.
You think it's unfair that you were recorded without your knowledge? Tough luck. I think it's unfair that someone like you was elected to represent people like me, and I am glad that you have been unveiled for the hateful, hypocritical, savage that you are.
There is nothing wrong with exercising your freedom of speech. There is something wrong with promoting hatred and spewing ignorant nonsense when you are an elected representative to whom people look for leadership. When you speak, Mrs. Kern, you are not speaking as a private individual. You are speaking as a public official. And your words are an affront to all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, their families, their friends, and all forward-thinking Americans. They are an embarrassment to all Oklahomans and Republicans, and I should hope that after due reflection they are an embarrassment to you.
Your hateful ignorance is one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed, and I honestly hope that your eyes are opened to the truth: that it's not gay vs. straight, it's love vs. hate. And you had best take a long, hard look at which side of that line you are standing on. You cannot speak poison and say "but I'm not being hateful" without telling a lie. You claim not to hate homosexuals, but it is perfectly obvious that in your heart you are full of hate and fear for that which you have not bothered to understand.
There's a saying in this book I read once about not judging others, and another saying about casting stones. I think there's even one about "love thy neighbor." Maybe you could help me to recall exactly how those go. That is, if you even care to remember them at all. Or if you've ever even read that book for yourself.
Yours in utter disgust,
Amanda Gannon
***
And this letter has surfaced, supposedly by a teenage boy named Tucker.
I don't know if it's real, if it is, it is absolutely heartbreaking. I think it ought to be read, and it ought to be emailed to Mrs. Kern repeatedly.
***
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
***
If Tucker is a real boy, and this is a real letter, and his is a real story, I wish him the best in getting the fuck out of here. And I hope his words find whatever shriveled monkey turd Mrs. Kern has for a heart and sink deeply in.
Words have power, and I don't think that reprehensible asswits like her really realize the damage they are capable of doing. Hateful religious choads hardly ever understand the repercussions their words have when filtered through the bullshit-stuffed brains of those even less intelligent than they are. People looking to be led are dangerous, and they will do dangerous things. It's fanaticism. I have seen it at work.
I remember April 19, 1995. I remember the Pulitzer-winning photo, the grief-filled and tender look on the fireman's face as he cradled the dying Baylee Almon. As much as I loathe playing to the "poor little children" angle, that was sincerely one of the most upsetting things I have ever seen in my life. Watching it unfold on the news was like a nightmare.
That was the work of a "Christian." And Mrs. Kern would have us believe that it's those pesky faggots who are the real threat.
If I were running for mayor, would she find my urge to make passionate love to Angelina Jolie's left thigh more horrifying than my occasional urge to throttle mouth-breathing fundamentalist troglodytes? Apparently so, since Mrs. Kern thinks the idea of a homosexual elected to public office is more frightening than the cooling corpse of a child.
A fag in office is scarier than a dead baby.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the priorities of the conservative Christian.
Rep. Sally Kern
Capitol Address:
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 332
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7348
District Address:
2713 Sterling Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73127
Email:
sallykern@okhouse.gov
Edit: Apparently her priorities may also include putting fanaticism ahead of her own children. Rumor has it that Mrs. Kern has a gay son. There is some very interesting psychoanalysis going on at the end of the article re: her paranoia about gays. I don't know if any of this is true, but if it is . . . things could get very interesting.
* Can't take credit for that one. Sorry.