Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern is the
target of a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) drive urging Governor Mary
Fallin and state legislative leaders to denounce Kern's most recent
anti-gay remarks.
The 64-year-old Kern, who is best known
for saying gay folks are the “biggest threat our nation has” at a
2008 gathering of Republicans, joined Americans for Truth About
Homosexuality's Peter LaBarbera to promote her recent book The
Stoning of Sally Kern, in which she discusses the criticism she
received for opposing gay rights.
During the radio broadcast, Kern, the
wife of a Baptist minister, attempted to explain her earlier remarks.
“You know if you just look at it in
practical terms, which has destroyed and ended the life of more
people? Terrorism attacks here in America or HIV/AIDS? In the last
twenty years, fifteen to twenty years, we've had maybe three
terrorist attacks on our soil with a little over 5,000 people
regrettably losing their lives. In the same time frame, there have
been hundreds of thousands who have died because of having AIDS. So
which one's the biggest threat? And you know, every day our young
people, adults too, but especially our young people, are bombarded at
school, in movies, in music, on TV, in the mall, in magazines,
they're bombarded with 'homosexuality is normal and natural.' It's
something they have to deal with every day. Fortunately we don't
have to deal with a terrorist attack every day, and that's what I
mean,” Kern said.
Kern also reiterated previous remarks
that homosexuality will “tear down the moral fiber of this nation.”
(The audio is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
HRC's Call
It Out campaign has generated 145,000 emails calling on state
legislators to denounce Kern's remarks.