03.19.08
Oklahoma Lawmaker Refuses to Apologize for Antigay Tirade
Nearly 300 people gathered outside the state capitol in Oklahoma City Tuesday to protest antigay comments made by Rep. Sally Kern, but the Oklahoma lawmaker refused to apologize, according to reports from the Associated Press.
“I see no reason to apologize for what God says, that homosexuality is a sin,” Rep. Kern told the AP. “I will not apologize. I did not say anything false. I did not say anything malicious or hateful. They are trying to vilify me. That is their tactics.”
Gay and lesbian groups called on Kern to apologize and asked the state legislature to adopt hate crimes legislation that would add protections for LGBT people.
“Hateful speech leads to hate crimes,” said Rob Howard, executive director of the Cimarron Alliance Foundation in Oklahoma City. He and other speakers highlighted the contradiction of Kern taking an oath to uphold the state Constitution but then condemning a segment of her own constituents.
Kern declined to meet with the groups, the AP reported, though she defended their right to express their point of view. “That’s great they came to the Capitol. This is a free country. They’re exercising their First Amendment right,” she said.
Kern noted that more than 30,000 emails had been sent to her, some of them threatening, and said an activist had attempted to intimidate her husband who is a Baptist minister.
“They’re sending out letters and making calls in my district. And they really want me to come down and talk to them?” Kern said. “It would be like throwing myself to the lions. That’s a metaphor. When I am wrong, and it is brought to my attention, I will apologize.”
Kern’s remarks attracted national attention after they were recorded and posted on YouTube by the Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund earlier this month.