Twenty antigay Oklahoma politicians including state Rep. Sally Kern — who recently enjoyed the enthusiastic public support of Oklahoma-based Exodus ex-gay activist Stephen Black — voted to suppress the public record of the opening prayer for the Oklahoma House of Representatives. (Sixty-seven voted in favor of recording it.)

Here is the entirety of the prayer that they hated: (Read More)

Oklahoma Baptist Pastor Steve Kern, husband of notorious Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern, reportedly believes gay Americans should be incarcerated and forcibly “cured.”

“We have to get rid of that and start curing those sinners. It’s past time that this nation stopped placating sin and start putting them in education programs. Courts can force drug offenders into treatment centers and violent people into anger management. There’s no reason our courts can’t do that with homos.”

While he builds support among ex-gay activists for arrest and involuntary quack medical treatments, Kern in the meantime is said by the Gossip Boy blog to be teaming up with Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett to rid the city’s public libraries of accurate health, scientific, and therapeutic information about sexual orientation. According to James Miko and Wayne Fuller, the pair plan a campaign to “rid the library system of all gay and lesbian materials, as well as those their church-based philosophies find objectionable.”

Their goals:

• Win the 2010 governor’s race and gain power at any cost
• Deprive Oklahoma families of any information that might help them accurately and constructively understand gay family members
• Censor information that exposes the persistent failure of ex-gay programs to “change” their participants’ sexual orientation
• Use government power and taxpayer money to enrich corrupt ex-gay quacks from Exodus International and NARTH, the religious-rightist reparative-therapy lobby.

(Read More)

On Tuesday, Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart was booted out of office by voters in his district, finishing third in a three-way primary. Rinehart came under scrutiny this month when he mailed a 16-page cartoon book as part of his re-election campaign that makes fun of gays and criticizes his political opponents. The book featured an angel who supports Rinehart and Satan, who supports his critics. It also included a gay man in a toga chasing a Boy Scout.

Rinehart is set for trial in September on several felony campaign corruption charges. He is accused of circumventing state campaign finance laws by having donors give money to a political action committee formed by his campaign manager, promising those funds would be used in his quest to be elected county commissioner in 2004.

Rinehart is Exhibit A of why the right wing is losing power. They are corrupt and then hide behind the Bible when they bamboozle the public.

Goodbye Rinehart. I guess you’ll feel better about your crushing defeat knowing it was God’s will.

Against freedom: An antigay Catholic group is upset that many Catholic universities permit freedom of speech and freedom of association among their gay-tolerant students and faculty. Styling itself as “The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property,” the group claims that, out of 211 U.S. Catholic universities and colleges, at least 96 have pro-tolerance clubs on campus. Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society equates tolerance of homosexual persons and their constitutional rights with promotion of homosexual activity, and he insinuates that sexual honesty is incompatible with “students’ moral formation.” Focus on the Family appears sympathetic to both Catholic antigay groups. (Focus)

Freedom from crime a “special right”: In its ongoing war against young victims of violence, the antigay American Family Association of Michigan has targeted state Sen. Valde Garcia, a Republican, for his support of legislation to protect students from bullying. Gary Glenn of AFA/M asserts that protection from bullying amounts to “special rights” if youths’ specific at-risk demographics are acknowledged. But Garcia says he had already threatened to withdraw his sponsorship of the legislation unless a list of protected demographics was removed. However, Garcia then contradicted himself — admitting he would hypothetically support legislation granting explicit anti-crime protections if they were limited to seniors, children and police. According to Sean Kosofsky of The Triangle Foundation, “If it’s not specific, it [anti-bullying legislation] will end up having little impact.” Kosofsky added, “There’s nothing gay about this bill whatsoever. It protects all students.” (Daily Press & Argus)

Gay genetics study: ABC News oversimplifies research into ties between genetics and homosexuality by falsely suggesting up-front that researchers seek a single gene that might explain sexual orientation. That’s not the case. According to the fine print in ABC’s own news story, the hypothesis is more complex:

Dr. Alan Sanders, a psychiatric geneticist at Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute, is currently heading the biggest study ever undertaken on sexual orientation. He’s looking at the genetic makeup of more than 700 sets of gay brothers.

“I think the evidence is pretty convincing already that a substantial contribution to sexual orientation comes from genetics,” he said. “It’s probably the single biggest factor that we know about.”

FRC apologizes: Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council apologizes for suggesting that America export its gay citizens in lieu of granting legal immigration to their foreign partners. (FRC Blog)

Kern meets with PFLAG: Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern still says equality for gay people is a bigger threat to America than terrorists — and further calls her opinion “Biblical.” But she has also met with members of the Oklahoma City chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and stated that she opposes discrimination against gays in the workplace. That should infuriate Concerned Women for America, which defended Kern’s terror talk as something that “reasonable people can debate.” Earlier, Kern debated a gay Christian pastor on KFOR-TV. (Queerty, PageOneQ, Good As You)

Send them to Mexico. Commenting on federal legislation that would allow foreign individuals to join their gay American partners on U.S. soil, Family Research Council activist and PFOX representative Peter Sprigg says the United States should export homosexuals, not import them.

How not to evangelize: Ex-gay activist Stephen Bennett recently spent several days coaching students at Lincoln Christian College in how to alienate gay people of faith through stereotypes. If students reject Bennett’s advice, there may yet be hope that hearts will be touched.

Hear, hear: People are understandably skeptical that Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern might be as divisive, self-righteous, paranoid, unloving, ignorant, or untruthful as her critics claim. Skeptics may listen to her entire recent speech about same-sex-attracted American terrorists, disease-carriers, and evil billionaires. Or read Kern’s entire speech. For all her indignant godtalk, Kern doesn’t quote a single Bible verse — or offer even a token of compassion for gay people, their families or their congregations. An Oklahoman observes that freedom of speech does not entitle Kern to abuse her public office.

Give me liberty or give me…: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations says state Rep. Sally Kern — whose recent speech consigned gay Americans to early death (from a disease called love?) — has not received death threats in response, despite claims to the contrary by Kern’s supporters.

Ferraro and Wright and Hagee, oh my: Are all the 2008 candidates for U.S. president pandering to divisive elements more than usual? Just curious.

Focus on the Family Action, political branch of the operator of the Love Won Out ex-gay roadshow and sponsor of ex-gay billboard campaigns, tonight defended Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern after she said gay people were the biggest threat to the United States, “even more so than terrorists and Islam.” (Read More)