Keep Your Filthy Fundie Hands Off My Government and My Library System

Okay, so it's not completely mine - it's Oklahoma's - but still, this shit has a distressing tendency to spread to the less-insane parts of the country (h/t):

A special investigation has revealed Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has his eyes on the state executive office and is working closely with religious extremists to fill the Metropolitan Library Commission of Oklahoma County with anti-gay members in order to court the fundamentalist vote.

Cornett and Steve Kern, pastor of the Olivet Baptist Church and husband to State Rep. Sally Kern, are being accused of teaming up to rid the library system of all gay and lesbian materials, as well as those their church-based philosophies find objectionable. A source close to Cornett alleges, “The Mayor is looking to become Oklahoma’s next governor in 2010. With the conservatism rampant in the state, he feels now is the time to fully side with fundamentalist Christians in order to get their backing. He believes one way of doing that is going on an all-out assault on gay citizens. Even if things are done that would later be overturned in court at a great cost to the City, he will walk away a hero to certain people.”

The insider also stated, “The Mayor is aware that Ernest Istook is returning to Oklahoma to join the governor’s race again. Istook has the conservative base locked in, so the Mayor must shake loose Istook supporters if he is to get past the Republican primary. Gays are easy targets for him. He tried to use them in 2006, but it backfired. This round he wants to make it clear he is without a doubt against gay rights.”

Charming little shit, eh? I wish I could say the electorate would wipe the floor with his ass, but this is of course Oklahoma, which seems to be having a bit of difficulty extracting itself from the smothering embrace of the fundies and joining us here in the 21st Century.

They also have a fuck of a hard time understanding little things like the First Amendment, separation of church and state, and the fact that public libraries aren't their personal pulpit:

In 2005 Rep. Kern sponsored House Resolution 1039, which was passed 81 - 3, in an effort to keep gay-themed books out of the hands of children. The resolution, which specifically targeted gay books, ordered libraries to “confine homosexually themed books and other age-inappropriate material to areas exclusively for adult access and distribution."

Kern and other legislators threatened state libraries with massive cuts in funding, if they did not remove material like the popular children’s books King & King and Heather Has Two Mommies. Both the books deal with gay marriage and are considered age appropriate for children. This led to a 2006 policy by the Metro Library system to create special sections for such books.

On November 20, 2008, new restrictions were passed at the Metropolitan Library Commission meeting in Edmond, which requires librarians to place material in the ‘Family Talk’ section at least 60 inches off the ground. That section includes materials dealing with gay and lesbian subjects.

The library commission is composed of political appointees, who are often at odds with the system’s employees, who strive to follow standard library policies regarding countering censorship and public access to materials.

Sounds exactly like what Sarah Palin hoped to do to Wasilla. And this is their vision for America, my darlings, which means that if we want a free, secular, and above all non-homophobic country, we need to work hard to keep these fucktards at bay.

Have some motivation:

[Gossip Boy, undercover as a frothing fundie supporter]: Well good for him. He’s a real man of God and his service to everyone has not gone unnoticed. We need all the help we can get to make sure the perverts keep their nasty lifestyle out of our city libraries and away from our children. The sickness is spreading into everything.

[Steve Kern, fucktard extraordinaire]: We have to get rid of that and start curing those sinners. It’s past time that this nation stopped placating sin and start putting them in education programs. Courts can force drug offenders into treatment centers and violent people into anger management. There’s no reason our courts can’t do that with homos.

I'm invoking Godwin's Law here. These people really are fascists. And I for one do not want to live in a country where they're in power. This is why I shall be keeping a rather sharp eye on the dominionist fucknuggets who attempt to inject their poison into my nation's political bloodstream, and will be liberally applying disinfectant at the ballot box.