Angry Gays Make Sally Kern Fear for Life

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

October 12 2011 4:53 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern, who has called gays more dangerous than terrorists, apparently means that literally -- she recently said she believes her antigay stances could put her life in jeopardy.

Kern, appearing Monday on the conservative religious radio show WallBuilders Live, told hosts David Barton and Rick Green that "fear gripped my whole body" when she realized she was receiving angry emails from gay people after a video of her remarks about gays and terrorists was posted online in March 2008.

Green commented that her reaction was likely "physical fear" rather than merely "political fear," and she responded that she and her husband "asked ourselves the question, are we willing to even lose our lives over this?"

Kern was promoting her book, The Stoning of Sally Kern, which has been endorsed by Anita Bryant and other antigay activists. Listen to the exchange at People for the American Way'sRight Wing Watch blog.