Cimarron condemns OK House vote

Cimarron Alliance, central Oklahoma’s LGBT advocacy and education organization, has condemned Oklahoma House Concurrent Resolution 1009.

The organization called the resolution, which reaffirms Oklahoma's ban on same sex marriage and urges the Supreme Court to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, “Nothing more than hateful bigotry in action.”

According to Cimarron Alliance executive director Scott J. Hamilton, “This resolution is not a law. It serves no purpose but to further expose to the nation the fear-based bigotry of our elected leaders.”

The group said there are 375,000 Oklahomans who are gay or lesbian and Hamilton noted, “This type of behavior in our House of Representatives does a grave disservice to every gay Oklahoman and to their families. Clearly our legislators are not aware and do not care that the majority of Americans are now in favor of same-gender marriage. We already have a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage. This legislation was completely unnecessary and will prove the Representatives are on the wrong—and dangerous—side of history.”

Hamilton continued by saying, “When our elected leaders begin to understand that their hate-filled work is driving talented people out of Oklahoma and preventing solid companies from ever coming here, they will have no choice but to keep their bigotry to themselves.”

Hamilton questioned why the legislature would spend time and resources on a meaningless resolution with all of the pressing problems in Oklahoma. “Twenty-two percent of our state’s high school kids drop out. The number of children who are food insecure, 13%, is far greater than the national average. Student achievement is among the worst in the nation and one in five children live in poverty. Is this kind of legislation really how hardworking Oklahomans want their tax dollars spent,” concluded Hamilton.