Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Solidarity with LGBTs Against Hate Speech of Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern


Nothing inspires me to stand in solidarity with LGBTs more than the following outrage. If you haven't already heard the words of Christian Republican Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern, give them a listen.



Kern was speaking to a sympathetic audience and didn't expect that her words would end up on YouTube. Surprise! In the first two days over half a million people have listened.

What this has to do with polyamory is this - the same people who use irresponsible, dangerous words while hiding behind their right to free speech also consider polyamory to be an analogous threat to society. When the speaker using hate speech is an elected official, to me it's simply unconscionable. Their power to influence thinking can have tragic results by empowering homophobes to rationalize violence against LGBTs as justified. Sadly, Kern refuses to see this point and refuses to apologize.

Here's what you can do. It's quick and easy. Just visit Victoryfund.org, a non-profit that provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly LGBT candidates and their campaigns, and add your name to its open letter to Ms. Kern.

Interestingly, Kern is the wife of a fundamentalist Baptist minister in Oklahoma City. They are rumoured to have a gay son whom they have disowned.

And by the way, I'm a neo-Christian Unitarian Universalist (I know, I know, but we do exist). I believe in God and Jesus, but I disagree with much of what is considered Biblical and therefore truth by organized Christianity. To me that's purely attributable to organized religion's oppressive powermongering in order to control its followers.

I mean no disrespect to Christians for believing in God and following Christ's message of love. Instead I reject Biblical "truth" on certain matters, especially those concerning sexuality, that have seemed to me for all of my adult life as inconsistent with the idea that God is love.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this information. I did click through and sign the letter.

Hate speech is hate speech. Awful.

Anonymous said...

W00T! Takoma Park gets a mention. She's afraid of what she doesn't understand. She's just been brought up that way. She doesn't know any GLBT people and she's just off on this. Unfortunately, many people throughout the country feel this way.

La Mosca Cojonera said...

lucky you don't live here, in Spain, where we hear that kind of speech far too often.

Btw, congratulations for your blog. I've just translated one of your posts.