by James Nimmo

(OKLAHOMA CITY) I found a link recently to a blog (www.bilerico.com) that contains a comment (http://tinyurl.com/4qdbph) written in reaction to reading the main story about the Oklahoma City chapter of PFLAG and their recording of Rep Sally Kern (http://tinyurl.com/2zbpgn) that catches Kern in her spider web of hubris and cant.

Like the author, I too, am very disappointed with the approach of “loving the hater while hating the hate.”

Of course, I respect our supporters who use their close relationship with Jesus to try and gain support for LGBT citizens and other minorities who are used for verbal target practice in the war for suppression of civil rights.

I’m delighted the Oklahoma City PFLAG chapter was able to document the duplicity of Sally Kern and record with her permission the lies she later reported as irresponsibility on the part of PFLAG. This single incident should show you the arrogance and madness that is being passed off as legislative Republican leadership. Not one elected official in Oklahoma from either major party has come strongly to the defense and support of the LGBT taxpayers living in Oklahoma.

Had Kern used race, skin color, or ethnic origin as her subject I bet the rent she would be renewing her teaching certificate today and looking for a school that would hire her.

The First Amendment guarantees both sides the freedom to practice their respective religious viewpoints and the market place in which to talk about them.

However, this same First Amendment does NOT give either side permission to encode their religious viewpoints into CIVIL law. I feel this is where we miss the boat in establishing our birthright to equal treatment under judicial law, and not the ten laws of Deuteronomy.

There will always be a bible verse to trump the opposing bible verse resulting in a version of ping-pong skirmishes with Jesus as the referee.

The writer gives some specific examples of public, peaceful protest that we can engage in to show that LGBTs are neither the doormats nor the monsters our enemies make us to be.

It’s odd that our suppressors are either afraid to be in the same room with us, fearing for their own bodily integrity, keeping their knees close together; or they dismiss us as dippy airheads, frivolous and irresponsible. How can we be both at the same time?

Their response shows more about the fiction in their minds then about the truth of our lives.

Until we get out of the religious justification business the more we’ll be dragged into its historical quagmire. Look at the present wars being fought around the world and you’ll see religious intolerance at the root.

Our LGBT equality will have to be established in the legislatures and the courthouses in all fifty states without religious prejudice tipping the scales of justice.

The obvious factors that get some corporations to even consider Utah are the taxes/incentives and the level of education of its pool of available workforce. When corporations move and there is a transfer of employees to Utah, there is a real and formidable challenge to dispel some of the stereotyping. With having the 2002 Winter Olympics here helped to dispel many of the concerns. Strange liquor laws and the general feelings there will be religious oppression at every corner by the Mormons is prevalent still. But NBA jock John Amaechi, who wrote in his book about gay life in Salt Lake City, has booted some of that negative notion out the door.

I know “gay-life” in an area is a real topic in discussions with corporations and business professionals. I know when American Express (Amex) and AT&T moved huge processing centers and office workers here there was a big concern about transferring their gay employees to Salt Lake City. It can have an adverse affect on business if the State is viewed as being too unwelcoming to gays. You can see why the Mayor of Salt Lake City is trying to keep its gay employees happy with a domestic partner regis…oops…I mean…commitment registry. It is vital in bringing money and jobs to a city.

I am sure the people in the State of Oklahoma Economic Development office has to deal with the same or similar issues. Sally Kern’s controversy is not helping them any.

Be careful painting an entire state with a broad brush like that. Oklahoma is too big and diverse to be characterized by such simplistic stereotypes.

I can’t imagine who would want to go to a place like Oklhoma anyway.

I propose a new slogan for Oklahoma:

Oklahoma… a CHRISTIAN church state. All others KEEP OUT.