By Peter LaBarbera

My friend and Americans For Truth Board Chairman Mike Heath, who also serves as Executive Director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, sent out the message below about Good Friday and “Hate.” Mike can relate to Oklahoma’s beleaguered State Rep. Sally Kern, as like her, he and his wife Paulie have been vilified and demonized by Maine’s pro-homosexual lobby for years as outspoken Christian, pro-family advocates.

I love Easter. The Christ whose sacrificial death we commemorate and whose resurrection we celebrate on Easter Sunday is real and alive, but His redemptive work in everyday people’s lives only rarely makes Fox News. Just today I received a call from a Christian man who had left the “gay” life behind and has been married for 16 years; he and his wife are raising their children, much like countless other married couples raising families. Another wonderful ex-“gay” story that belies the homosexual propaganda myth that homosexuals can’t change, but which probably will never appear in the media.

Describes well-financed homosexual campaign to target pro-family state legislators

Below is a full transcript of the January 10 speech by Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (R) that has made her a target of homosexual activists worldwide. After the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (GLVF) posted transcripts from Kern’s (secretly recorded) speech on YouTube, Kerns was inundated with almost 30,000 emails (by March 21) – most hostile, many vulgar and a few vaguely threatening violence (for a few days she was assigned a bodyguard by the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety). Click here for AFTAH’s background story: “LaBarbera Assails Homosexual Hate Campaign and Intimidation Campaign against Oklahoma Legislator Sally Kern.” Click HERE for a sampling of the hate-mails sent to Kern, who also has received 50-60 harassing phone calls at her home in the first two weeks since the story broke.

What follows is based on a transcript made by a homosexual activist website, www.equalrightsproject.com. Kern read through the transcripit and said she is almost certain that it was taken from a speech she delivered to a Republican club in January at the Boulevard Cafeteria in Oklahoma City. The event was open to the public.

We have fixed a few of the misspellings and typos (e.g., Thomas ‘Payne’ to Thomas Paine) from the pro-homosexual group’s transcription and added our clarifications of two points in brackets, based on a phone interview March 13 between Sally Kern and Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera.

NOTE: the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund Youtube excerpts last only two minutes and 52 seconds out of a much longer speech. Below, we have bolded only the exact portions of Kern’s that were strung together into the GLVF’s YouTube video, in the same (chronological) order that they are found in her speech. Readers will note that the GLFV did some creative editing, such as leaving out Kern’s comment that “I base my life upon … God’s word. And it says to love everybody and I try to love everybody,” and taking this single sentence out of a long excerpt: “And we had parents say, “If I knew my child was involved in that group [a gay/straight alliance club], I wouldn’t let them”:

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Full Transcript of January 10 Speech by Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern

WARNING: VULGAR OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE — UNEDITED

Above, a Facebook post paints Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern as Satan. The following are among the hate-filled e-mails sent to Kern’s legislative office since a homosexual activist group published an edited speech she gave critical of homosexuality. E-mail addresses have been removed: CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO READ SOME OF THE AWFUL HATE MAIL SENT TO REP. KERN:

Vicious activists even falsely accused her son of being homosexual

Pro-homosexual activists have targeted Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (R) with a hate campaign because she spoke out strongly against the homosexual activist agenda. Above, a Facebook post paints Kern as the devil. A “Queerty” blog went so far as to accuse her son “Jesse” of being a homosexual with a sex criminal past — but the Jesse Kern in question was not her son, who would have been only 12 at the time of the crime.

TAKE ACTION: Support Rep. Sally Kern by writing sallykern@okhouse.gov or calling (405) 557-7348; write St. Representative Chris Benge, Speaker of the House (chrisbenge@okhouse.gov) or call (405) 557-7340 to defend her against the nasty hate campaign against her orchestrated by homosexual activists. Also, e-mail her fellow lawmakers to voice support for her by going to www.okhouse.gov: there is a list of Representatives with e-mails and phone numbers to the left of screen under House Membership. Share this story with your network of family and friends, and please pray for Sally and her family.

Americans For Truth

News Release, March 20, 2008

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, today condemned the unprecedented campaign of vilification against Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern (R), which forced her to have a bodyguard and endure vicious smears against her –– and even her son’s –– character based on an edited version of a speech that was put online by a homosexual activist group.

“The homosexual activist movement engages in hatred and mean-spirited attacks –– in the name of tolerance,” LaBarbera said. “In the name of fighting discrimination, they are trying to destroy a good woman who voiced her Christian belief that activism based on immoral sexual conduct is destructive to America, and harmful to children. Homosexual militants have even sunk so low as to falsely accuse Kern’s son, Jesse, of being a homosexual to embarrass her.”

Hate speech or humor? This one has been making the e-mail rounds — quick, call the Thought Police! Something tells me that most of our humorless homosexual critics won’t be laughing (after all, jokes are allowed only when ridiculing “anti-gay fundies”), but everyone else seems to think it’s hilarious.

Is there a bomb in those high heels? — Peter LaBarbera

Disclaimer: This graphic is only a joke. Any resemblance to an actual woman is purely coincidental and highly unlikely. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that there is an incendiary device in this “she-male’s” pumps. We at Americans For Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) have no reason to believe this man pretending to be a woman is actually a terrorist, nor are we implying that Arab-looking transvestites are terrorists or that they represent any serious threat to Americans other than to our sensibilities. Memo to PFLAG: if you are planning to organize a protest or request a meeting with me or AFTAH, do not waste your time; I will still think this is funny. Please direct all legal inquiries to Sodom, Gomorrah & Brimstone Attorneys at Law; www.sodomgomorrahbrimestoneLLC.com; e-mail correspondence: lightenup@sodomgomorrahbrimestoneLLC.com; (202-555-JOKE).

Will Ellen DeGeneres campaign against the virulent anti-Christian hate among her fellow homosexuals?

By Peter LaBarbera

Memo to Ellen DeGeneres and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund: perhaps before you start lecturing conservative Christians like Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern about their alleged “hate,” you ought to deal first with the hatred and meanness of your own fellow homosexuals. (Citing the murder of Matthew Shepard and Lawrence King, the GLVF outrageously wrote an open letter to Kern, stating, “Your words give aid and comfort to those who would hurt, maim and even kill people who are different from you.”)

Click HERE to listen to a recent Concerned Women for America online interview with Kern in which I participated.

Homosexual haters are everywhere in the blogosphere, as a quick visit to lesbian activist Pam Spaulding’s “Pam’s House Blend” blog will attest. Commenters on her site put the “m” back in mean, especially when they’re bashing Christians; they even make “The Pam” seem moderate by comparison — no small feat.

Along those lines, check out this particularly nasty screed, “The Gay Agenda,” by pro-homosexuals-in-the-military activist Clinton Fein — which a friend sent us after seeing it on another wicked “gay” blog called “Back Door Boy in a Front Door World”. (WARNING: these blogs contain highly offensive language.)

Rep. Sally Kern assigned bodyguard after homosexual threats; trusts in God to protect her

www.cwfa.org/multimedia.asp

Folks, I strongly urge you to listen to this radio program, and then contemplate the malevolence of homosexual activists who even went so far as to falsely label Oklahoma legislator Sally Kern’s son Jesse as “gay” to further their hate campaign against her. Click HERE to listen to the interview–Peter LaBarbera.

Concerned Women for America published this on March 14:

Oklahoma State Representative, Sally Kern (R), is under attack by anti-Christian homosexual hate groups, such as the so-called “Human Rights Campaign” and the “Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund,” for addressing the dangers posed to American culture by militant homosexual activism and celebration of the homosexual lifestyle. These groups have dispatched their minions in an effort to intimidate and embarrass Rep. Kern. Investigators are even looking into potential death threats against the lawmaker and she has been assigned a bodyguard. Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, spoke with Rep. Kern and with Peter LaBarbera, President of Americans for Truth, about the hateful words and thinly veiled threats Rep. Kern has been forced to endure over the past few days. Click HERE to listen to the online program.

Homosexual superintendent defends disgusting play

Whatever happened to “heartland” values? Concerned parents and citizens across the nation are aghast at the news that a teacher in Deerfield High School (north of Chicago) would assign a homosexual activist-authored play, “Angels in America,” with graphic depictions of sodomy, etc., to students in AP English class. District 213 Superintendent George Fornero (gfornero@dist113.org) — who apparently is a homosexual, based on his participation on “gay” websites — defends the use of the play. (AFTAH received information from several sources about Fornero’s postings on a “gay sports” website and another related to the homosexual group Dignity, which purports to serve homosexual “Catholics” but which defies Vatican teachings on homosexuality.)

Laurie Higgins has written before for Americans For Truth, including this review of “Angels in America.” She is a writing instructor at Deerfield High, where she is also a bold and eloquent critic of politically correct nonsense at the school. Below is Higgins’ take on Deerfield’s and Fornero’s folly in defending the use of Tony Kushner’s homo-pornographic and anti-religious play in a senior AP English class — Peter LaBarbera:

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Click HERE to read excerpts of “Angels in America,” which cannot be read over the air but are supposedly OK for teenagers

Click HERE for contact information for Superintendent Fornero (gfornero@dist113.org) and other District 213 officials

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By Laurie Higgins

The administration of District 113 has sent out what they call a “Fact Sheet” regarding the obscene play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes that is being taught at Deerfield High School. Below is the “fact sheet” with my responses in blue:

Dear ——-,

Here are the facts pertaining to the selection of this play:

Angels in America Facts

• Students studying the play are second semester seniors in Advanced Placement English. (Translation: “We save the most offensive tripe for the most intelligent.”)
• This play has been taught to similar classes in other high schools. (Translation: “Everyone else is doing it, and we’re lemmings and conformists who cannot think for ourselves.”)
• The College Board oversees all Advanced Placement testing; the class syllabus, including all readings was approved through the Board’s audit process. (Translation: “Of all the readings offered through the College Board, we’re including the most offensive.”)
• Parents received information about Angels in America that specifically addressed the mature content and potential for offense. (Translation: “We’re using the inaccurate euphemism ‘mature’ for the more accurate term “obscene.” Reality: The use of obscene language represents the very antithesis of maturity. It is intemperate, puerile language. In addition, the information given parents did not adequately convey exactly how obscene and perverted the material is. Moreover, there are different kinds of maturity that are being deliberately conflated. If by “mature,” one is referring to intellectual maturity, then it is irrelevant. No one objects to this play because the material is intellectually inaccessible. If educators are referring to emotional maturity, meaning that students are emotionally stable enough to discuss emotionally challenging material without being traumatized, then that too is irrelevant in that most people who object to Angels are not concerned about students being too immature to handle it, although some students will likely be deeply troubled by the language, images, and ideas.The concern many have is with moral maturity. Many people recognize that adolescents, including even bright, mature high school seniors, are not yet adults. They are still constructing a moral compass. They are impressionable, malleable, and much more vulnerable to external influences than are adults whose moral compasses are likely fixed and stable. For a teacher to contend that there are any eighteen-year-olds whose moral compass is fully developed and fixed represents an ignorant and hubristic assertion. Activist ideologues recognize this developmental fact and seek to influence the moral development of other people’s children using other people’s money to do it.)
• Parents were asked to make an informed decision about the text their child would read. Two viable choices were presented: Angels in America and Albert Camus’ The Plague. They were also given the option of having their students read both texts. Letter to parents requested that they provide permission for their student to read the selected text(s). (Reality: Many parents have neither the time nor interest in reading the entirety of Angels in America; This teacher is much beloved by students, and teens are rebellious, therefore, even parents who don’t want their children to read Angels may feel the force of social pressure, compelling them to allow their children to read the provocative, controversial text. The school has potentially set parents up for conflicts with their own children.”)
• The Pulitzer Prize-winning play is set in the 1980s at the beginning of the AIDS crisis in this country. It deals with social and political themes around that issue. In addition, the play won Tony and Emmy Awards (Translation: “Be impressed by prizes that are awarded by arrogant, elitist organizations that hold in disdain the traditional values of provincial, philistines regarding sexuality and language.” Reality: This is a common fallacy called “argument from authority” which relies on the word of an expert or authority rather than on evidence.)
• Excerpts taken out of context from the play by NSSA are being used to diminish the work’s social and political themes. (Reality: There is no context that can justify or render acceptable the teaching of the most extreme violations of decency and truth that occur in this play. Put another way, can the administration or school board imagine any text in which the sexual vulgarity, obscenity, profanity or sacrilege is so extreme or offensive that its very presence would render a text unsuitable for teaching, no matter what positive elements may also be present? Or will positive literary elements always trump issues of obscenity, profanity, and sacrilege? Are administrators saying they will never, under any circumstances take into account the nature and extent of obscenity, profanity, and sacrilege?)
• Although there is strong language and obscenity, the teacher raises questions for student discussion that include: How do we respond to the illness of a loved one? What does it mean to abandon that loved one? How do our personal beliefs clash or coincide with our politics? To what extent do we truly know ourselves? To what extent are we blind? What does it mean to be willfully blind? What is the role of forgiveness? (Translation: “We are able, in the midst of this odious miasma of a text, to extract something of value.” Reality: Another text could easily be found that explores these or other important questions, and does so without the features that assault religion, goodness, truth, and beauty, including the virtue of modesty.)
• This gifted teacher was recently named a Teacher of Distinction from Golden Apple. (Translation: “Once again, be impressed by prizes.” Reality: Once again, this represents the fallacy of appealing to authority. In essence the fallacy goes something like this: This teacher made the decision to teach this odious text, and he is a “Teacher of Distinction.” His intelligence or gifts as a teacher, however, do not serve as justifications for the decision to include this text. Really smart people can make really chuckleheaded decisions.)
• According to Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Waller, the reading and discussion of the material is not a violation of the obscenity laws, or any other laws, of the State of Illinois. (Reality: The fact that it may not technically violate obscenity laws does not mean it is not obscene. I guarantee that if I start using Kushner’s language in the writing center where I work, or if students start using it in their classrooms, faculty members and administrators will curtail it due to its obscene nature. And if I or students refuse to cease and desist, we will be disciplined.)
• It is the belief of this district that our teachers and parents, not an outside group such as NSSA [North Shore Student Advocacy], are best equipped to determine whether or not our students should read the text. (Reality: NSSA, some members of which are District 113 taxpayers, former parents or future parent, knows more about the inner workings of DHS than most parents in the community. Furthermore, the administration and faculty members, especially liberal activists, want little to no feedback from parents, unless it’s affirmation of and support for the curricular incarnations of their liberal dogmas. Liberal activists covet absolute autonomy and depend on parental ignorance and cowardice to maintain it.)