Oklahoma City's Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination Law Draws Harsh Critics (VIDEO)

Though the Oklahoma City Council's decision to include sexual orientation in the city's employment nondiscrimination policy is being hailed as a victory for the area's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population, one critic's comments during the public commentary portion of the session is leaving some feeling less than optimistic.

As NewsOK is reporting, Pastor Tom Vineyard of Windsor Hills Baptist Church cited "a New York judge" in saying more than half of murders in large cities are committed by gay people. He went on to note, "Many homosexuals openly admit that they are pedophiles because they cannot actually reproduce. They resort to recruiting children. ... Folks, you're making a decision that will bring down God's judgment on your city if you vote in favor of this." Vineyard is also reported to have received the longest standing ovation of the day after his remarks.

The "emotional and polarizing nature" of the amendment, which passed 7-2, drew more than 100 people to the council chamber well in advance of the 8:30 a.m. meeting, NewsOK reported. The applause was most profound for those who spoke against it, many of whom cited religion as the reason for their opposition.

Still, the new measure did receive plenty of praise from its supporters, such as City Council member Ed Shadid. "It's adding two words, sexual orientation, to a laundry list of conditions that the city cannot hire or fire based upon," he said.

"Everyone deserves to be included. I think this goes a long way to heal wounds of the past," Shadid added.

Watch a news report below:

 

Comments

[majesticjkr]

07:09 PM on 11/22/2011

religion is a joke, the world is full to the tilt of perverts so whats god going to do about it, gods going to do nothing because god only excists in our minds put there by our parents who had it put into their heads by their parents and so on, the muslims are more of a joke then any of us they get down on their rugs and pray like Fck to somebody that ant there, and kill themselves thinking their all going to get 100 virgans, now i dont want to sound flipent but just how old are these virgans and were do they come from, because you just dont get virgans anymore unless your a pervert sex beast pedophile, nevermind the bloody church and god and christ, think of yourself in this world, protect your family and dont be scared to brake any of the ten commandments if you need to,

[TXanimal]

11:48 AM on 11/21/2011

Why is it these "spokesmen of God" are so adept at breaking the ninth commandment?

[dan90254]

07:00 AM on 11/21/2011

Funny how people who claim they are representatives of God on earth (aka priests, pastors, ministers and the like) have some of the worst attributes called out in their bible -- pedophilia, adultery, lying, hatred towards others. It sickens me how folks like this get away with it all. And makes me sad that so many others blindly follow them just because they wear a black shirt and say "praise be to God".

[Proud Bay Man]

01:20 AM on 11/21/2011

Doddy, what was religion?

[Proud Bay Man]

01:19 AM on 11/21/2011

This is what religion does to people. Period.

[FantasticFourFan]

09:46 PM on 11/20/2011

Keep in mind, this is the same state THIS GUY comes from:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-4-most-homophobic-comics-ever-created/

Check out the first entry.

[Martha Rayburn]

06:50 PM on 11/20/2011

I live in Oklahoma City, and what the pastor said is not what surprises me. What surprises me is that the law passed in the first place. That type of thinking is not normally what you would see from local politicians. Upon thinking about it, the only reason I can come up with for it passing is that the council must be worried that at some point the city would get sued by someone who was discriminated against for unlawful firing and they would have to pay out a big settlement. I can't think of any other reason why they would be concerned about discriminating against the LGBT community because they mostly would prefer to pretend the LGBT community doesn't exist.

[beariffic1]

12:18 PM on 11/20/2011

"...in saying more than half of murders in large cities are committed by gay people." What I think he meant to say was 'committed TO gay people.'

[beariffic1]

12:12 PM on 11/20/2011

I am gay, have been around gay people almost my entire life, and I have never heard any of these claims from not ONE SINGLE PERSON. Why do people (especially the church) feel the need to make up lies and scare tactics to get their ways? These people are the reason so many people turn away from and against the church. They are liars, haters, and manipulators of justice.

[WheelsOnFire]

10:55 AM on 11/20/2011

There are lies.

There are damned lies.

Then there's anything said by Pastor Tom Vineyard.

[mrld20]

10:24 AM on 11/20/2011

Fascist pastor!!!!

[WheelsOnFire]

09:34 AM on 11/20/2011

I thought pastors weren't allowed to lie.

Isn't lying against the christian religion?

Yet pastor Vineyard reeled off a string of bald-faced lies.

Well, his dreaded lake of fire awaits him.

[pnllsprkf]

10:17 AM on 11/20/2011

they only consider it a lie if they don't believe it themselves--apparently he's a very disturbed person

[WheelsOnFire]

10:36 AM on 11/20/2011

Yes, indeed -- he's one very disturbed person. Unfortunately he also gets to lead a congregation. Yikes.

[Linda Stare]

02:21 AM on 11/20/2011

And these are the sort of white males who still believe that they are above everyone else; that they are God's "chosen people" to dictate morality and government policy, and have every God-given right to do so because "their bible tells them so":

http://windsorhills.org/staff.php

[Linda Stare]

02:05 AM on 11/20/2011

Old testament, new testament: it's all B.S. to make a buck, oppress people, and legitimate power over others without any feeling of guilt whatsoever.

[hawaiianstile]

12:56 AM on 11/20/2011

there is absolutely no way thats true. i cant see any possibility of gays actually committing the most murders. being the victims of the most murders sounds somewhat believable, but NO WAY do they commit the most. but facts arent something this guy is very familiar with, hes a fundamentalist. he thinks people can come back from the dead and walk on water. why do people with moronic ideas get pull when its religious. the smelly crazy dude at the bus stop makes similar claims and he never gets to speak at assemblies.