Bruce Kraus, Pittsburgh’s first openly gay councilor, has been on council less than three months. But he has a lot more sway than he may have realized.

Or so says Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern. By now, almost everyone has heard, or heard about, her anti-gay rant. In remarks Kern made in January that were posted on YouTube, Kern says that “the homosexual agenda is destroying this nation, okay, it’s just a fact. Not all lifestyles are equal, just like not all religions are equal.”

During the diatribe, which Kern has said were taken from a series of public appearances, she calls out our fair city of Pittsburgh as an example of a place where gays — who Kern calls “the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat — are taking over.

“Gays are infiltrating city councils,” Kern says. “Have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is controlled by gays? There are others: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”

Council president Doug Shields wrote to Kern demanding an apology and her resignation: “Your remarks, whether you know it or not, provided an incredible display of ignorance and intolerance. … I find no place at the table for a public policy maker who would espouse hate, discrimination and bigotry. … As the president of the city council of Pittsburgh, I require an apology from you for your senseless, mean-spirited attack on one of my colleagues and the council as a whole.”

Diane Gramley, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Family Association, praised Kern’s remarks. “It doesn’t concern her that homosexuals may be voted in,” says Gramley. “She’s concerned about them using their position as a bully pulpit for the normalization of homosexuality. My concern is not that homosexuals are voted into public office; it’s that they may use that position of power to further the homosexual agenda.”

Gramley says that she construed Kern’s mention of Pittsburgh not as an attack on Kraus specifically, but as a slap at council for passing a resolution in support of state House Bill 1400. The measure would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under the state’s Human Relations Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of race and other factors.

“I think that what Mrs. Kern said is being blown way out of proportion and we are seeing the intolerance of the people who are calling the loudest for tolerance,” Gramley says.

Read more in the next issue of Pittsburgh City Paper.

This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2008.

E-mail Melissa Meinzer about this story

2 replies on “Gays rule Pittsburgh, Oklahoma legislator charges”

  1. “My concern is not that homosexuals are voted into public office; it’s that they may use that position of power to further the homosexual agenda.”

    Did you press her on what comprises the homosexual agenda? If she does not know, the next logical ting would be to approach Bruce Kraus and demand a copy, I guess.

  2. I’m concerned about Diane Gramely and her American Family Association ,she is not normal and her American Family organization is not normal . The REAL (not Hers ) American family is not all WASP , nor are they All heterosexual, or consist of two partners , male and female , everyone is not a christian . Also to get the record straight : just because your a christian doesn’t mean that you don’t abuse children , the elderly , disabled , the sickly . The American family ” that she doesn’t have a clue about ,doesn’t have good health care , fancy cars and houses , food in the refrigerator ,a great job (even with their college education ) or have two to three generations in the house . It is no ones bossiness who others marry or love , definitely not hers . Closed minded people should keep their mouth shut and their opinions to themselves ,especially when they have no clue as to what they are talking about . To the GBLT community the heterosexual Family is not normal or sacred or healthy for children . Proof is on the News everyday of abuse , murder, and in our divorce courts . Opposite marriages are not the only way of marriage , it exploits and undervalues women . most don’t stay married for more than five years if that ,if they are following a religion for most ,it is for their children’s sake , or to look good , just as they use their cars , house, schools, money to deem their worth . I see a bunch of spoiled , self centered children , unsupervised , catered to , coming out of Diane’s American family who usually aren’t socially competent to deal with the real world and whom only know how to destroy anyone who gets in their way . The ratio for children committing murder , child-parentcide and other crimes are much higher among the “American Family of Heterosexuals than it is among homosexuals . We need leaders who accept and respect Human Rights to be the norm for all : The constitution was written for Every human not just heterosexuals !!!!! I’m glad I’m not a part of or in Diane’s American family ! I can only imagine the conditional help that families get from her organization . I hope she doesn’t have children or Grandchildren . As Obama says , “We need a change ” I say , We need people in leadership positions who are reality oriented not those living in their own little fantasy world !

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