Just so you guys know, Barack and Hillary both put out statements in response to the Lawrence King murder, so they are showing some support.

I think mainly they're not bothering to comment on this because it hasn't received all that much coverage, and because for Barack and Hillary's bases, this woman is seen as an extremist nut.  What she says isn't really worth responding to.

Though I agree with John's point that gays are a political liability, so politicans are hesitant to jump to our defense.

It's the reason why when Hillary was asked about General Peter Pace's comment that homosexuality was immoral, she said, "I'll leave that up to other people to decide."

I'm from Italy and we hear these antigay statements all the time (at least when it is even accepted to talk about homosexuality), by senators, officials... the pope (who's not even Italian but the media don't seem to know)...

We've had senators of the leading parties threatening to vote against the government on a civil union bill. We're now facing early elections and the bishops are reminding that the nominees must 'respect' catholic values, or they will speak against this or that party.

Anyway some gay people were elected; but leaders are far from defending gay rights!

What do you expect? A stunning number of people, including politicians, in America think this way. Kern was just willing to throw basic human decency to the wind and spout her screed more or less openly. Now, I'm sure she was surprised that it leaked out to the public (like they were over the Saddam execution), but in this day and age you have to assume that anything you say in front of people may end up on YouTube.

The truth of the matter is that a lot of people agree with her, although a lot of others probably just want to distance themselves from the whole sordid affair and let the matter run itself out in the public consciousness.

Do people like Kern contribute to anti-gay violence? Absolutely! This is why we need to call them on their hate, especially when they have the audacity to claim Christian "love" for the people they're accusing of being the greatest threat to the nation. That's just a bald-faced lie even though Kern herself probably believes it.

When all is said and done there are still a lot of bigots left in the world and we shouldn't flatter ourselves that they are gone. However, letting their hate spew "leak" onto the Internet is a great way to expose them to the general public.

It amazes me that Sally Kern not only believes in what she said, but that she obviously thought nothing of expessing it out loud and in a manner that could reach so many people. That she thought nothing was wrong or unacceptable about what she was saying.

It makes me wonder how many people think these things and simply don't voice the opinion in public. The old saying "Better the enemy you know." comes to mind.

That guy she was in love with in High School who dumped her for another man. 

Don't trouble yourself Doctor -- I'm a celebrity, I'll write my own prescription.

Believe it or not but it seems that her viewpoints aren't welcomed but very neccessary, especially since she is in a position of power.  It's extremely important to really know where someone stands or how they really feel when it comes down to it.  It's like making a huge discovery that your neighbors aren't just homophobes but they are  secretly destroying your personal property and you catch them red-handed in the act.  What do you actually do in that situation.  Do you get a group together and turn the tables and take matters in your own hands?  Do you take the non-violent approach and just don't deal with it?  Now we know that she feels this way but what can we really do about it.  She might have felt this way for sometime but now it's out in the open and she can't take it back.  She can now do some damage control, that might not do any good because the damage is already done.  Only thing she could do for her own soul is apologize but no one will ever forget her statements and most won't be willing to forgive her at this time in our country's history.  I don't think she open up a can of worms but she tapped on a pretty sensitive subject at a real bad time.  She just didn't release some hateful words that she felt would affect the gay community but her speech of hate isn't sounding too hot in the political world as well.  The truth of the matter is she might not be alone with how she feels because we have to face it everyone isn't as pro-gay or pro-human as they should be.  However she never realized that she would be standing out there alone, trying to defend what she actually said.  I guess her invite to Oklahoma City's pride fest isn't happening this year.