Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers
questioned the sexual orientation of a supposedly “ex-gay” man
after testifying against a proposed gay protections bill.
Testifying Thursday before the Senate
Judiciary Committee considering the measure which seeks to ban
workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, Gordon Opp
argued that such a measure would “violate my freedom to hold the
belief that homosexuality is not equal to heterosexuality.”
“When I was young, I was free to make
my decisions to leave homosexuality,” Opp
testified. “The government was not telling me my values were
wrong. My public school teachers taught me that tolerance means to
recognize and be respectful toward those who believe and act contrary
to my values. Today, tolerance is being defined by our government as
approval of values that go contrary to all that is true about me. As
you well know, when laws are passed to protect one group, they often
violate freedoms of another group.”
A loud outburst was heard when Chambers
asked Opp “did you enjoy the sex that you had” with other men.
Responding to the outburst, Chambers
stated: “We have a lot of Christians in this room and they do not
respect the rules, as they should.”
“Now, you brought up the fact that
you practiced homosexuality …”
“Yes,” Opp interrupted.
“Did you enjoy the sex that you had,
when you were having it?”
When Opp refused to give a straight
answer, Chambers added: “And you said it yourself, didn't you?
That you enjoy the heterosexual experiences you're having.”
“Yes,” Opp answered.
“So, might it be, that you were
neither homosexual or heterosexual but bisexual?”
“I did enjoy the homosexual sex,”
Opp responded. “But for the wrong reasons. I learned the lie that
it was. That it was trying to meet needs that I shouldn't get met in
a sexual way.”
“I'm not even questioning your
motivation for why you did either what you did while a practicing
homosexual or why you do what you do as a heterosexual. I'm just
indicating that when a person enjoys sex with both genders the person
is bisexual.”
“I'm not bisexual,” Opp insisted.
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