Oklahoma Town Approves GLBT History Month

A city in Oklahoma has approved a proclamation that dubs October "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month." But some locals opposed the measure, citing standard-issue anti-gay tropes such as the "gay lifestyle" and fears that children would be taught about gays in school.

The city council of Norman, Okla., spent four hours on an agenda item that called for the proclamation, with heated input from locals, reported local newspaper The Norman Transcript on Sept. 29.

"It's a slippery slope that will lead to many other things," warned one member of the public, Keith Steincamp.

Others spoke of a "gay lifestyle" that they saw as "destructive and disease-ridden," the article said. Others saw it as bestowing upon GLBTs privileges not available to heterosexuals. Said Eve Spaulding, "This proclamation is anything but inclusive." Spaulding pointed out that there is no month set aside to celebrate heterosexuals and their families.

But others pointed out that "special rights" are far from the experience of America's GLBT population. "If there were equal rights for homosexuals, we wouldn't be having this proclamation," said Tim Kovach, a city council member.

In the end, seven of the eight members of the city council voted in favor of the proclamation. City council member Dan Quinn was the only one to vote against the item, saying that he would respect the wishes of his constituents.

Oklahoma is hardly a bastion of GLBT equality. Republican state Sen. Steven Russell went so far as to propose a law that would mandate that the state's police not cooperate with federal authorities when investigating hate crimes. Russell argued that a federal hate crimes law signed by the president a year ago imperils freedom of speech for religious people who speak out against gays, citing passages from the Bible.

Sarah Warbelew of the Human Rights Campaign told EDGE that such concerns were "nonsense." "The hate crimes laws have never penalized individuals for their speech," said Warbelew. "The one exception to this is if you are a religious leader, or any other person, and you instruct somebody else to murder someone. That can be prosecuted."

Warbelew also noted that federal authorities cannot compel local investigators to investigate hate crimes that are not part of a state's own penal code. "What [the federal hate crimes law] does do, is allow federal government to step in and investigate those crimes if the state isn't going to do it, or wants assistance in doing it," she said.

In 2008, another Oklahoma state lawmaker, Sally Kern, made headlines when she warned that acceptance of gays in America sounded the "death knell of our country." In an address to the College Republicans club at the University of Central Oklahoma, Kern posited that homosexuality "has deadly consequences for those people involved in it," and cited dubious "studies" purporting to show that being gay leads to a shorter life span.

When her comments inflamed national controversy, Kern refused to apologize, saying, "I will not back down from what I believe the Bible teaches."

Later that year, Kern was found to be carrying a loaded handgun in her purse as she entered the state capital building. The incident came after a similar occasion on which Kern had made it past the security checkpoint with a gun. On both occasions Kern had forgotten to leave the gun at home when going in to the capitol, she said. The lawmaker was not charged in connection with the incidents.