Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern says she never told PFLAG officials she opposes anti-gay job discrimination, but PFLAG’s tape begs to differ
State Rep. Sally Kern met with PFLAG supporters at the state Capitol on March 27. But her version of the conversation doesn’t jibe with the tape recording the PFLAG-ers made at the meeting.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has released the full 40-minute audio of a recent meeting between Oklahoma PFLAG supporters and Republican State Rep. Sally Kern. And, PFLAG officials say, the tape contradicts Kern’s version of the meeting.
PFLAG officials said they made the tape available only at www.pflag.org after Kern insisted the organization had publicly misrepresented statements she made during the meeting.
Kern became the center of a storm of controversy last month after the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund posted a video on YouTube containing audio from a speech Kern had made to a Republican gathering in Oklahoma City.
During that speech, Kern called LGBT people a "cancer" that "is just destroying this nation." Kern also said gays were "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism."
Kern met with PFLAG supporters at the state Capitol on March 27. She subsequently denied that, during the meeting, she spoke out against job discrimination against gays or that she agreed to consider an ongoing dialogue with PFLAG families.
But, PFLAG officials said, the recording released this week clearly proves that Kern twice agreed with PFLAG supporters that gays should not be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation.
PFLAG officials said the tape proves Kern went on to say that "maybe" she would consider a follow-up meeting with PFLAG families in her district and that she agreed to a dinner invitation from a PFLAG supporter in the meeting.
On the tape, near the end of the conversation, Kern is asked, in recapping the conversation, if she does indeed oppose anti-gay job discrimination. She responds that she does.
"Rep. Kern’s words speak for themselves," said the Rev. Loyce Newton-Edwards, president of PFLAG’s Oklahoma City chapter. "The recording, which we made with her staff’s consent, is irrefutable evidence that she did agree with us on employment non-discrimination; that she did agree to consider an ongoing dialogue with us; and that she did agree on some basic principles of fairness and equality.
"It is beyond disappointing that she has now stepped away from those comments, and it is disheartening that she, as an elected leader, has attempted to disavow her own words," Newton-Edwards said.
Newton-Edwards and PFLAG supporters the Rev. Kathy McCallie and the Rev. Jim Shields, are heard in the recording engaging Kern on issues ranging from LGBT demographics in Kern’s district to issues of faith and family.
The tape records Kern telling the group that they have been "deceived" by the "homosexual agenda," but also records her expressing gratitude for the opportunity to talk with them.
"Sally Kern has, to our disappointment, now slammed the door shut on our families, allies and loved ones in Oklahoma and across the country," said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of PFLAG. "As the PFLAG recording attests, we approached her with a willingness to talk and a commitment to work together for our families. In response, she has denied that she said what she did and walked away from her duty to hear from her constituents.
"Kern’s return to shrill rhetoric is a disservice to everyone. She clearly does not intend to represent all of the families in her district," Huckaby said.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition April 11, 2008.