State Rep. Sally Kern said the over-the-top rhetoric employed by those opposed to placing children’s books with homosexual themes in an adult section of public libraries indicates activists are trying to undercut parental rights.

“Tolerance means respecting the right of other people to disagree with you,” said Kern, R-Oklahoma City. “Being tolerant doesn’t mean you suspend all personal moral standards. Unfortunately, many of the homosexual activists protesting my proposal define ‘tolerance’ as promoting their agenda to the exclusion of all other views – particularly Christian teachings – and trampling the right of parents to raise their children.”

House Resolution 1039, by Kern, calls on Oklahoma libraries to “confine homosexually themed books and other age-inappropriate material to areas exclusively for adult access and distribution.”

The resolution, adopted this month on an 81-3 vote of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, was filed after a couple in Kern’s district learned a book checked out by their child was about homosexual marriage.

The book, “King & King,” by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, tells the story of a prince who chooses a man as his queen and is marketed to ages six and up.

In response to the passage of HR 1039, Kern noted that homosexual activists across the nation have launched a campaign to deceive and divide the public.

For example, San Francisco activist Alan Rosenfeld has urged San Francisco officials to boycott any products or services provided by Oklahomans because of Kern’s resolution to “ban books on gay families.” In a letter sent to San Francisco city leaders, Gov. Brad Henry and Kern, Rosenfeld compares Oklahomans to Nazis and claims the state is essentially engaged in book burning.

“Placing a book on a different shelf in the library is not a ban,” Kern said. “Letting parents decide if their children should read certain material is not burning. And equating Christian parents with Nazi butchers is worthy of Joseph Gobbels himself.

“I hope Gov. Brad Henry will join me in condemning these disgusting tactics by gay-rights extremists.”

Willing to hold her ground against opponents, Kern recently agreed to do an interview on the New York-based radio show of homosexual activist Michelangelo Signorile, even though Signorile’s own Web site touts his show as “guerrilla radio” that relies on “ambush-style interview techniques.”

“Basically, I discussed my views and he called me names,” Kern said. “Signorile didn’t really want to hear what I had to say. Clearly, the opponents of HR 1039 don’t have a leg to stand on or they would make a serious argument. Instead, they offer nothing but lies and name-calling.”

Kern has asked library officials to keep books like “King & King” in a separate section so parents will be aware of the contents and can decide if they want their child to read those books.

So far, Oklahoma County officials have not yet made any adjustment in their policies, saying the decision should be left up to local officials. However, 96 percent of the representatives present voted in favor of HR 1039, including nearly all of the Oklahoma County delegation.

In addition, 75 percent of all Oklahoma voters supported a ban on homosexual marriage last fall, including 71 percent of Oklahoma County voters.

“Members of the House represent their constituents and are very aware of local-community standards,” Kern said. “For library officials to pretend local officials have not spoken on this issue is an act of willful blindness and direct defiance of local control.”

Recent polling conducted by Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates found that 88 percent of Oklahoma voters believe books such as “King & King” should be restricted to adults or even banned.

The poll also found a plurality of Oklahomans supports withholding public funding from libraries that do not restrict children’s access to such books.