Wheeler fires back at KY Democratic Party, while questioning party’s values
The Kentucky Democratic Party released a statement calling for 31st Dist. Sen. Phillip Wheeler to resign for his “homophobic remarks,” made at a Republican Party event in Elliot County. However, according to Wheeler, his comments were taken out of of context, as he said he was discussing religious values.
According to Wheeler, the controversy stems from comments he made about a picture taken of Gov. Andy Beshear posing with what the Louisville Courier-Journal said was a “charitable group” at a LGBTQ-rights rally, which took place in Frankfort on Feb. 19.
Wheeler said his comments were taken out of context by several newspapers, as he said he questioned the governor’s choice of posing for a photo with members of a LGBTQ group that he said “mocks religion and faith-based communities.”
“My position is not one on homosexual rights,” Wheeler said. “What I have an issue with is the fact that one of the state of purposes of this groups is to mock religion and faith-based communities and I stand by those comments.”
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is the group Wheeler questioned and, according to him, one of their stated missions is to mock traditional religion and faith groups. Wheeler said that if you look at the photo in question, one individual is wearing devil horns and the other one is wearing a mock nun’s habit, made from a KFC bucket, to mock the Catholic Church.
“These people are actually mocking the Christian religion. It’s what they do,” Wheeler said. “They have a creed that mocks the Catholic Church. I mean their whole mantra is built up around mocking religion and that, to me, is the problem, not gay rights.”
According to the group’s website, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a “leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns. We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty. Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979, the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment. We use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.”
Kentucky has two local chapters of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — the Derby City Sisters in Louisville and the Kentucky Fried Sisters in Lexington.
According to the Courier-Journal, who spoke to “Guard Wolfie,” vice president of the Louisville group, the organization is “not in the business of mocking religion,” Wolfie said. Adding that the costumes harken back to the group’s founding when the Catholic Church “turned its back on the LGBTQ community and AIDS victims.”
According to the group’s website, the Sisters went “all out” to greet the Pope during a visit to St. Mary’s Cathedral, in which the group carried out “our full-on exorcism” of the Pope.
Beshear told the Courier-Journal that Wheeler’s comments were “absolutely homophobic,” to which Wheeler said that is not the case.
“The Democratic Party and Gov. Beshear wants to call it homophobic, but it’s not homophobic.” Wheeler said. “What I’m criticizing is the Democratic Party’s support of an organization that chooses to make fun of religion, religious people and faith-based communities. That’s what I said in my speech and I stand by those comments and I’m not backing off of them at all. If that’s what they want to do then that’s fine, but you know, that doesn’t mean that I have to accept that and I’m not going to.
“And I’m sure as hell not going to resign. If the people of the 31st Senate Dist. want to resign me this fall then that’s something I’ll accept,” he added.
According to Wheeler, he’s not going to resign for merely pointing out that the group in question is mocking the values and Christian religion that he said many of the people within his district hold “pretty dear.”
“I’m not going to be silent about what I believe in and I’m not going to be silent about things that I think are wrong,” Wheeler said. “And I think mocking faith-based communities and religion is wrong and that is exactly what this group does and the governor lent his name to it.”
Wheeler said he challenges anyone to find “one statement” in his speech where he alleges that “homosexuals are bad,” adding that it’s “just not there.”
“I’m not going to criticize somebody that chooses to live as a homosexual, because that’s their choice in life and they have that right,” Wheeler said. “I’m not going to sit there and pass judgement, nor am I going to discriminate against them. But, when you come at me as a homosexual mocking my religion or my constituent’s religion, then, yes, I’m going to call you out on it.
“I’d be offended if it was straight people who chose dress like that and mock religion. It’s not about mocking the gay community, it’s about standing for about I believe in,” he added.
According to Wheeler, the Louisville Courier-Journal had asked him if he would be willing to sit down with members of the organization, to which he said “You know, I’ll sit down with them, but I’m not going to sit down with them while they come here and mock my religion to my face.”
“I just believe if I’m the governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky or an elected official, I’m not going to be down there celebrating the mocking of religion,” Wheeler said. “Frankly, he’s the governor for all the commonwealth and he can support those people, but when he puts himself out there and supports their mocking of religion and faith based communities, I think he’s the one that’s expressing intolerance towards other people who may have a more traditional set of values.”
Wheeler said because those comments were taken out of context, he believes he has been attacked and accused of being something he isn’t.
According to the Courier-Journal’s story, Wheeler said, “This is not only a fight for the soul of America, it’s a fight against evil for just the forces of decency.” However, the article did not include the entirety of quote as he continued and said, “I would have never thought that there would be a day when we have people dressed in devil horns celebrating with our governor in our beautiful capital in Frankfort, Kentucky, a place with much religious imagery, and yet we have a governor that celebrates it being defiled.”
Wheeler said he has the backing of the Republican Party and reiterated he has no plans on backing down from his comments or resigning.
By Austin Blankenship
Appalachian News-Express
Thank you Mr. Wheeler, for standing up to your Christian faith. I completely agree with you.
He is an idiot. Mocking traditional religion because all it is, is an organized cult. Truly religious people would not stand with traditional religion and churches. They would practice by themselves or with family and would not express all their negativity because that in itself is against all the religions pointed out by this man. Using religion as a crutch is like saying you’re racist because of where you’re from. That’s not a legit reason. Grow up and think for yourself. Learn the way the world works, move with change. Stop being stuck in the past. Don’t use something fictional as a reason to be hate filled. Stop being brainwashed.
What used to be a difference of opinion is now considered hate or a person gets labled as a racist, a homophobe, or whatever other kind of phobes there are nowadays. Now we have the transgender nonsense whereas if you don’t accept it and embrace it then you are transphobic. God lord people wake up! If I had a dollar for every gender there are these days I’d end up with 2 dollars and a lot of couterfeit bills! If you wanna go against basic biology and believe this nonsense then go for it, but don’t expect me to and certainly don’t demand that everyone be forced to recognize it. There’s a few reasons why Donald Trump won’t the 2016 presidency and will win again in 2020, and one of them is what’s going on today with the radical far left trying to force people to conform against things they don’t agree with or believe in and to rob them of their free speech.
I think somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. OUCH!