Kristin Chenoweth and LGBT rights

Dear Editor,

The Sooner-born Kristin Chenoweth was featured in the Oklahoman's "Healthy Life" section, Nov. 24, 2015, for her appearance at a local breast cancer awareness and funding event. She is an angel as well as a super-star.

In 2005, however, organizers of the Oklahoma Women of Faith Conference uninvited Chenoweth from performing for them at the last minute because they learned that she was an advocate of LGBT rights. 

Chenoweth would not budge from her position. "I read my Bible and I pray and all of that. I really do," she told one publication. "But at the same time, I don't think being gay is a sin. Period." 

She asked, "What would I do if it was a sin to be short?  I'm 4-feet, 11-inches, and that's the way God made me, so what could I do? That's what I believe about homosexuals." 

So, listen carefully, all remaining anti-gay religious zealots:  You can be as deeply religious as Kristin Chenoweth and believe in universal human and civil rights for LGBT people. 

For purely rational humanists the conclusion of professional health organizations is persuasive. Sexual orientation – whether gay or straight – has been officially declared a normal human characteristic by the American Medical Association, Psychiatric Association, Psychological Association, and National Association of Social Workers. 

Someone tell Rev. Paul Blair of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond: "There is still time, brother. You can repent your sins and be forgiven." 

Sincerely, 
Nathaniel Batchelder, Oklahoma City

The Gayly - 11/24/2015 @ 6:10 p.m. CST