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Social Justice Issues
South Carolina's political gender gap is not just a gap . . . it's a Grand Canyon!
Southeastern Institute for Women In Politics, March 4, 2009
We have ample evidence that the women who live and work in South Carolina are talented, skilled, and generous in their commitment to improving the quality of life of South
Carolina families. However, women are grossly underrepresented at the tables of power where public policy decisions are made:
The near-absence of women's input into critical decisions of the 21st century is a monumental waste of one of South Carolina's most valuable resources, and a staggering affront
to women, who make up 51.3% of the state's population. With the cooperation of existing major women's groups in the state, the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics
plans to narrow this political gender gap and help women take their rightful place as powerful political leaders.
Southeastern Institute for Women In Politics, March 4, 2009
We have ample evidence that the women who live and work in South Carolina are talented, skilled, and generous in their commitment to improving the quality of life of South
Carolina families. However, women are grossly underrepresented at the tables of power where public policy decisions are made:
- South Carolina ranks 50th - last - in the nation in terms of women in public office. In the 2007-2008 Legislature, there are two women State Senators and 13 women
members of the House of Representatives, meaning just 8.8% of the Legislature is female.
- Only one woman, Elizabeth Patterson (D), has ever been elected to Congress in her own right. She served in the US House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993.
- Only three women in South Carolina history have been elected to statewide office: Lt. Governor Nancy Stevenson (1979-1982), Superintendent of Education Barbara
Nielsen (1991-1999), and Superintendent of Education Inez Tennebaum (1999-2007).
- Just two women are presidents of private colleges or universities, and women make up only 19% of the Boards of Trustees of public institutions.
The near-absence of women's input into critical decisions of the 21st century is a monumental waste of one of South Carolina's most valuable resources, and a staggering affront
to women, who make up 51.3% of the state's population. With the cooperation of existing major women's groups in the state, the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics
plans to narrow this political gender gap and help women take their rightful place as powerful political leaders.
Your Comments send to yoursiteSC@comcast.net
Adam Parker, one of the Post and Courier's best new-ish writers, wrote:
The gap between our ideals and our daily life is sometimes profound, sometimes barely noticeable, but it's almost always there.
Nowhere has this discrepancy been more pronounced than in the context of civil rights. The nation's founding documents declare that all men are created equal, yet it took two
centuries for the law of the land to codify equality, and many say the country continues to struggle with the issue. It seems that ensuring all people are equal is easier said than done.
This week, the NAACP, the oldest continuously functioning civil rights organization in America, marked its centennial. The Post and Courier took the opportunity to ask readers to
reflect on today's civil rights concerns. A selection of responses follows.
I have added the comments below as subject guides to your thoughts and ideas. Please add to them.
RACE:
In South Carolina, we should make sure that all children are provided an equal start in life with an excellent education, and we should take active steps to end the so-called
"school to prison pipeline" that sends too many young people to jail rather than setting them on the right path to becoming good citizens who can make a contribution to our
economy and our community.
Victoria Middleton; Executive Director, ACLU South Carolina
The Rev. Bill Stanfield; CEO, Metanoia
One of the more unfortunate stories of human history is that those who are in the majority often seek to establish their power by limiting the power of those in the minority. This was
true in Jesus' day (see Romans and Jews), it was true in our Jim Crow South and it will likely be true well in the future. What those of us in the majority often miss is how our
attempts to build our power by limiting the power of others often ends up hurting us as much as it does those who we discriminate against.
I see this in the opinions of those who feel they must lock their doors and speed through my lower income, predominantly black community. They literally imprison themselves in
their vehicles as they move through a community that is itself imprisoned by crime, low wages, and substandard housing. Because we cannot pay people a living wage in one
community, other communities expend extra resources to build gates and guardhouses. Which community is bound? Both are. People of good will must continue to come
together to free not just those in the minority but all of us who are bound by our attempts to limit those in that minority. When we do this, we invariably find that our own freedom is
increased as well.
Armand Derfner; Civil rights attorney
The categories of civil rights issues are still mostly the same: education, employment, housing, administration of justice. These are actually just symptoms of the basic condition
that we are still two nations (as the Kerner Commission said 40 years ago) and that the African-American "nation" is kept apart by large-scale poverty whose roots go back
generations. While average wages for blacks are climbing closer to white wages, the most telling figure is "net worth" — that is, total resources. Average black net worth is less
than one-seventh the net worth of whites! Think what that means especially in bad economic times. That difference, rooted in our past, cannot be overcome overnight. The election
of a black president is a sign that we are on the road to real progress, but the road from racial separateness and black poverty to equality is a long one. If we commit ourselves to
staying on that road as long as it takes, we will succeed.
Dr. Thaddeus Bell; General practitioner
Health disparities are the civil right issues of the 21st century. Dr. King talk about this in 1965. Most people are not aware that disparities exist. The real history of American
medicine and its treatment of blacks should be fully told so that we can learn from it. The question continues to be asked: "Why do blacks distrust the health care system?" If the
history of segregation, experimentation and disenfranchisement in the medical community was known, we would understand why. Then perhaps we could address one of the
major civil rights issues of the 21 century.
WOMEN:
Jennet Robinson Alterman; Executive Director, Center for Women
The ongoing civil rights issue that I see as a priority is pay equity for women of all races. In South Carolina today white women make 72 cents for every dollar a man in a
comparable job makes. Black women make even less, 65 cents, and Hispanic women even less than blacks. It is time to close the wage gap once and for all. If we paid women
what they were worth it would create more jobs and generate enough tax revenue to fund state government services. Let women become full citizens and watch how everyone's
quality of life will improve.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender:
Warren Redman-Gress; Executive Director, Alliance For Full Acceptance
The civil rights issue for today is the one no one wants to talk about: equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. At a recent community meeting, the
topic was raised concerning the lack of rights for LGBT people — and the room fell silent. These were people whom I knew were personally supportive of family and friends who
were gay, yet they held back from naming the discrimination aloud. One courageous person said she wished the subject was one we didn't have to talk about.
The harsh reality is that we must talk about it. Until we stop denying people jobs because they are gay, or denying them housing, or turning them out of hotels and restaurants
simply because they love a person of the same gender, until we learn to recognize LGBT citizens' rights to form legally documented relationships and families just like our straight
brothers and sisters, civil rights for all Americans will just be words on paper.
Jim C, James Island
HUMAN RIGHTS -- REVERSING BUSH POSITION, U.S. NOW SUPPORTS U.N. MEASURE CONDEMNING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION: In December, the
United States joined China, Russia, the Vatican, and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in refusing to support an unprecedented U.N. declaration calling for a
worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality. While the declaration "to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal
penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention" was signed by 66 countries, the Bush administration "couched its objection to the measure in legal technicalities." At the
time, human rights advocates slammed Bush for "trying to come up with Christmas presents for the religious right so it will be remembered." But yesterday, continuing the Obama
administration's rejection of Bush-era policies and attitudes, the U.S. offered support for a proposal to condemn "all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations
based on sexual orientation" at the U.N.'s "Durban Review Conference" on racism and xenophobia in Geneva. While the measure failed because of resistance from non-western
countries, U.N. Dispatch's Mark Leon Goldberg noted that "it's relieving to see that the United States is now back on the side of the enlightened on this issue of basic human
rights."
Class:
To some extent, several of the opinions above include class as well as another social justice issue. Your thoughts about class inequity?
Adam Parker, one of the Post and Courier's best new-ish writers, wrote:
The gap between our ideals and our daily life is sometimes profound, sometimes barely noticeable, but it's almost always there.
Nowhere has this discrepancy been more pronounced than in the context of civil rights. The nation's founding documents declare that all men are created equal, yet it took two
centuries for the law of the land to codify equality, and many say the country continues to struggle with the issue. It seems that ensuring all people are equal is easier said than done.
This week, the NAACP, the oldest continuously functioning civil rights organization in America, marked its centennial. The Post and Courier took the opportunity to ask readers to
reflect on today's civil rights concerns. A selection of responses follows.
I have added the comments below as subject guides to your thoughts and ideas. Please add to them.
RACE:
In South Carolina, we should make sure that all children are provided an equal start in life with an excellent education, and we should take active steps to end the so-called
"school to prison pipeline" that sends too many young people to jail rather than setting them on the right path to becoming good citizens who can make a contribution to our
economy and our community.
Victoria Middleton; Executive Director, ACLU South Carolina
The Rev. Bill Stanfield; CEO, Metanoia
One of the more unfortunate stories of human history is that those who are in the majority often seek to establish their power by limiting the power of those in the minority. This was
true in Jesus' day (see Romans and Jews), it was true in our Jim Crow South and it will likely be true well in the future. What those of us in the majority often miss is how our
attempts to build our power by limiting the power of others often ends up hurting us as much as it does those who we discriminate against.
I see this in the opinions of those who feel they must lock their doors and speed through my lower income, predominantly black community. They literally imprison themselves in
their vehicles as they move through a community that is itself imprisoned by crime, low wages, and substandard housing. Because we cannot pay people a living wage in one
community, other communities expend extra resources to build gates and guardhouses. Which community is bound? Both are. People of good will must continue to come
together to free not just those in the minority but all of us who are bound by our attempts to limit those in that minority. When we do this, we invariably find that our own freedom is
increased as well.
Armand Derfner; Civil rights attorney
The categories of civil rights issues are still mostly the same: education, employment, housing, administration of justice. These are actually just symptoms of the basic condition
that we are still two nations (as the Kerner Commission said 40 years ago) and that the African-American "nation" is kept apart by large-scale poverty whose roots go back
generations. While average wages for blacks are climbing closer to white wages, the most telling figure is "net worth" — that is, total resources. Average black net worth is less
than one-seventh the net worth of whites! Think what that means especially in bad economic times. That difference, rooted in our past, cannot be overcome overnight. The election
of a black president is a sign that we are on the road to real progress, but the road from racial separateness and black poverty to equality is a long one. If we commit ourselves to
staying on that road as long as it takes, we will succeed.
Dr. Thaddeus Bell; General practitioner
Health disparities are the civil right issues of the 21st century. Dr. King talk about this in 1965. Most people are not aware that disparities exist. The real history of American
medicine and its treatment of blacks should be fully told so that we can learn from it. The question continues to be asked: "Why do blacks distrust the health care system?" If the
history of segregation, experimentation and disenfranchisement in the medical community was known, we would understand why. Then perhaps we could address one of the
major civil rights issues of the 21 century.
WOMEN:
Jennet Robinson Alterman; Executive Director, Center for Women
The ongoing civil rights issue that I see as a priority is pay equity for women of all races. In South Carolina today white women make 72 cents for every dollar a man in a
comparable job makes. Black women make even less, 65 cents, and Hispanic women even less than blacks. It is time to close the wage gap once and for all. If we paid women
what they were worth it would create more jobs and generate enough tax revenue to fund state government services. Let women become full citizens and watch how everyone's
quality of life will improve.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender:
Warren Redman-Gress; Executive Director, Alliance For Full Acceptance
The civil rights issue for today is the one no one wants to talk about: equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. At a recent community meeting, the
topic was raised concerning the lack of rights for LGBT people — and the room fell silent. These were people whom I knew were personally supportive of family and friends who
were gay, yet they held back from naming the discrimination aloud. One courageous person said she wished the subject was one we didn't have to talk about.
The harsh reality is that we must talk about it. Until we stop denying people jobs because they are gay, or denying them housing, or turning them out of hotels and restaurants
simply because they love a person of the same gender, until we learn to recognize LGBT citizens' rights to form legally documented relationships and families just like our straight
brothers and sisters, civil rights for all Americans will just be words on paper.
Jim C, James Island
HUMAN RIGHTS -- REVERSING BUSH POSITION, U.S. NOW SUPPORTS U.N. MEASURE CONDEMNING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION: In December, the
United States joined China, Russia, the Vatican, and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in refusing to support an unprecedented U.N. declaration calling for a
worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality. While the declaration "to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal
penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention" was signed by 66 countries, the Bush administration "couched its objection to the measure in legal technicalities." At the
time, human rights advocates slammed Bush for "trying to come up with Christmas presents for the religious right so it will be remembered." But yesterday, continuing the Obama
administration's rejection of Bush-era policies and attitudes, the U.S. offered support for a proposal to condemn "all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations
based on sexual orientation" at the U.N.'s "Durban Review Conference" on racism and xenophobia in Geneva. While the measure failed because of resistance from non-western
countries, U.N. Dispatch's Mark Leon Goldberg noted that "it's relieving to see that the United States is now back on the side of the enlightened on this issue of basic human
rights."
Class:
To some extent, several of the opinions above include class as well as another social justice issue. Your thoughts about class inequity?
UPDATES & INFORMATION
firedoglake.com blog stories.
|
From lindaketner.com/blog
June 5, 2009
Mea Culpa
I’ve always been resolute about never outing anyone, believing strongly that every person gets to decide when or if he or she comes out.
I let myself and others down in a recent off-the-record chat with a reporter. I obviously don’t have knowledge of the sexual orientation of any individuals mentioned. What I do have
is respect and appreciation for their service to this state.
My sincerest apologies to any of you rightfully upset with me.
Linda
June 5, 2009
Mea Culpa
I’ve always been resolute about never outing anyone, believing strongly that every person gets to decide when or if he or she comes out.
I let myself and others down in a recent off-the-record chat with a reporter. I obviously don’t have knowledge of the sexual orientation of any individuals mentioned. What I do have
is respect and appreciation for their service to this state.
My sincerest apologies to any of you rightfully upset with me.
Linda
Evan Wolfson Commentary: key points in poll:
Gay marriage, legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and now Iowa, with Vermont coming aboard in September. At its low, in 2004, just 32 percent of Americans favored gay
marriage, with 62 percent opposed. Now 49 percent support it versus 46 percent opposed -- the first time in ABC/Post polls that supporters have outnumbered opponents. More
than half, moreover -- 53 percent -- say gay marriages held legally in another state should be recognized as legal in their states. The surprise is that the shift has occurred across
ideological groups. While conservatives are least apt to favor gay marriage, they've gone from 10 percent support in 2004 to 19 percent in 2006 and 30 percent now -- overall a
20-point, threefold increase, alongside a 13-point gain among liberals and 14 points among moderates. (Politically, support for gay marriage has risen sharply among Democrats
and independents alike, while far more slightly among Republicans.)
Gay marriage, legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and now Iowa, with Vermont coming aboard in September. At its low, in 2004, just 32 percent of Americans favored gay
marriage, with 62 percent opposed. Now 49 percent support it versus 46 percent opposed -- the first time in ABC/Post polls that supporters have outnumbered opponents. More
than half, moreover -- 53 percent -- say gay marriages held legally in another state should be recognized as legal in their states. The surprise is that the shift has occurred across
ideological groups. While conservatives are least apt to favor gay marriage, they've gone from 10 percent support in 2004 to 19 percent in 2006 and 30 percent now -- overall a
20-point, threefold increase, alongside a 13-point gain among liberals and 14 points among moderates. (Politically, support for gay marriage has risen sharply among Democrats
and independents alike, while far more slightly among Republicans.)
A Tough Walk on Common Ground for Christians
Two Christians, 1 gay, 1 not, face similarities, differences
The Sun News; By Isaac J. Bailey – June 28, 2009
Angel Onley watched as Linda Ketner knocked on a door in the Bucksport Community.
It was a 98-degree day. Onley planned to walk with Ketner through the community.
The two professed Christians - one who is openly gay, the other who believes homosexual behavior is a
sin - were meeting for the first time.
"I told her 'I am praying for your soul,'" said Onley, who struggled over her support of Ketner, a candidate
for the U.S. House of Representatives this past November, upon learning she is gay.
The meeting of the women on the roads of Bucksport was a microcosm of the broader debate about
homosexuality, an issue that has split Christian churches across the nation and has been the focus of
President Obama's declaration of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
The debate is particularly acute in the South. Here, images of Christianity are everywhere, painted on
billboards, nailed to pine trees, in block letters on church signs, on delivery trucks. Area FM radio
stations that play hip hop set aside Sunday mornings for gospel and sermons, such as one on 98.5 in
which a pastor said the Bible frowns upon women in church leadership.
Two Christians, 1 gay, 1 not, face similarities, differences
The Sun News; By Isaac J. Bailey – June 28, 2009
Angel Onley watched as Linda Ketner knocked on a door in the Bucksport Community.
It was a 98-degree day. Onley planned to walk with Ketner through the community.
The two professed Christians - one who is openly gay, the other who believes homosexual behavior is a
sin - were meeting for the first time.
"I told her 'I am praying for your soul,'" said Onley, who struggled over her support of Ketner, a candidate
for the U.S. House of Representatives this past November, upon learning she is gay.
The meeting of the women on the roads of Bucksport was a microcosm of the broader debate about
homosexuality, an issue that has split Christian churches across the nation and has been the focus of
President Obama's declaration of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
The debate is particularly acute in the South. Here, images of Christianity are everywhere, painted on
billboards, nailed to pine trees, in block letters on church signs, on delivery trucks. Area FM radio
stations that play hip hop set aside Sunday mornings for gospel and sermons, such as one on 98.5 in
which a pastor said the Bible frowns upon women in church leadership.
"What church do you attend?" is a question frequently posed to friend and stranger alike.
It plays out elsewhere, too. A church in Connecticut recently caused a stir for what critics called an exorcism to remove a "homosexual demon" from a 16-year-old boy. A pastor with
the church told The Associated Press she loved gay people, just hated their lifestyle.
The Grand Strand now has a few gay-friendly churches and plenty of transplants from a multitude of faiths, and it will hold its second Myrtle Beach Pride festival next weekend,
when the Rock Church will perform commitment ceremonies.
But the traditional view about sex holds sway: any sex, gay or straight, not occurring in a marriage - a God-ordained union between a man and a woman - is sinful. Homosexuals
are in the same state as adulterers, fornicators and those practicing bestiality. Nonmarried sex in South Carolina - fornication - is illegal, punishable by up to a $500 fine or a year
in jail.
But that Saturday meeting between Onley and Ketner would not be about debates, exorcisms or church splits. It would be a walk of faith colored by different interpretations of how
God sees gays and lesbians.
Common roots
The then-27-year-old Onley was the third vice chairwoman of the Horry County Democratic Party. Ketner was a political newcomer seeking to unseat an incumbent Republican in a
heavily Republican district. Onley was there to help her canvass for votes.
Just the day before, Onley, a youth minister, had learned that Ketner was gay. She wanted to know what God wanted. That was more important than helping Ketner become the
U.S. Representative of the 1st Congressional District.
Onley grew up in the Baptist tradition, the most active faith segment in South Carolina, at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, in the Bible Belt state that passed a constitutional
gay marriage ban by almost 80 percent of the vote.
She had prayed for six months after first feeling a call to the ministry. Then she spoke at youth revivals and at one saw "at least eight young people give their lives to Christ."
"I felt as if something else had taken over," she said. "I felt that this is what I was supposed to be doing. I felt at home."
Her pastor and the church board approved her initial sermon at Friendship. In August of 2006, she took to the pulpit, "shaking in my heels" and preached about how "Thou Has Left
Thy First Love."
Ketner too grew up in faith. She spent her first six years in the 500-person town of Faith, N.C., before moving to Salisbury. In 18 years of attending a Presbyterian church, she never
heard the pastor mention homosexuality.
"I'm a red-letter Christian," Ketner said. "Jesus Christ is my No. 1 hero as a social justice advocate."
Ketner, as an 8-year-old, sent a petition to President Dwight Eisenhower with hundreds of signatures to ask that Little League Baseball be desegregated.
She drank from "colored only" fountains and spent countless hours in civil rights protests against segregation and said she "studied the Bible in depth as I struggled to find my
place in Christianity, the institution."
She said she noticed greed was mentioned more than 200 times, homosexuality maybe half a dozen but "women in same-sex relationships not at all."
"Moses didn't mention it," Ketner said. "Christ didn't mention it. Seems to me if it were as important as some conservative religious groups make it, they would have mentioned it."
Conflicting feelings
The night before the two were to meet, Onley kneeled. And prayed.
She searched the Web to find out more about Ketner, a successful businesswoman who would wage a campaign that would surprise long-time political observers. Being
sympathetic to gay issues, and openly gay, was assumed to be a political liability in this red state.
"We have to stand up for those who God has his hands on," Onley said.
But could God have his hands on an openly-gay woman in a long-term relationship?
"I knew her religious tradition must have caused her to have a conversation with God about me," Ketner said. "She is exactly the kind of woman who would take it to God. And since
I trust God completely, I felt he and she would work it out."
Onley later felt called to the 35-member Palmetto Missionary Baptist Church founded by the Rev. Cheryl Adamson.
"We don't promote people being gay and sexually active in leadership positions in church," Adamson said. "But we don't sit in judgment of them in public for their private lives."
Adamson says she doesn't tell members what to do when faced with situations like Onley's.
"I teach them the gospel and they make their own judgments," she said. "We are not dictators. We are free in Christ."
Slow acceptance
Adamson's words, and the words of her parents and other faith mentors, were with Onley when she decided to watch Ketner knock on the first door in Bucksport.
So were the lessons from a girlfriend who was blocked from the ministry because of a divorce, and memories of a childhood friend she had watched pray and read the Bible and
attend church as passionately as Onley. She later learned that her friend, like Ketner, is gay.
And she remembered that she herself didn't adhere to the teaching against premarital sex but sang in the choir, while she was unmarried and pregnant.
Still, Onley stood back as Ketner left the first house and went to the second. She began to notice Ketner's ease with those she met.
Ketner's business acumen would be an asset for South Carolina, Onley began to think.
She thought of all the outreach and volunteer work Ketner had done, the kind Christians are called to do.
By the third house, Onley was knocking on doors and introducing Ketner to Bucksport.
She knew she'd get questions from friends - and did - about why a young pastor would help a gay woman get elected.
"I deal often with people's religious traditions coming into conflict with my relationship-orientation," Ketner said. "I grew up in the South and it's hard to find God when many of the
anointed among you tell you that God is not for you unless you can change the unchangeable, or live without the most important relationship to growth and wholeness we have as
humans.
"It's hard to find God when the good who support you are being oh-so-careful and silent," she said. "It's hard to grow up feeling the love of God if you're gay."
But it also shapes you, she said, and your "pain starts transitioning into wisdom," and you learn "courage from your fear" and "compassion from your victimization ... and you feel
that God-love that never leaves you isolated and alone."
She also knows she came within 2 percentage points of beating incumbent U.S. Rep Henry Brown because of people like Onley.
"I believe Angel became a friend and supporter that day because she explicitly or intuitively ... knew all that," Ketner said. "And I'll never forget her, nor anyone else willing to withhold
judgment and listen to Christ's admonition that our job - our only job - is to love one another."
Onley helped Ketner that day, voted for her and might again. Ketner has her eyes on 2012.
In the end, still a sin
Still, Ketner would have a harder time finding a leadership role in Onley's church if Onley creates one after graduating from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
The truth is the truth. Living a homosexual lifestyle is a sin, Onley said. It's not any more sinful than her own premarital sex, but it is a sin nonetheless.
"My discernment with the guidance of the Holy Spirit said that she was truly after helping the people and wanted to make a change for the betterment of the everyday people," Onley
said. "I also understood watching her that she could deal with those in high positions."
"I voted for [Ketner], not on Christian values," Onley said. "If I could take that one little thing from her, everything else would be Christian."
It plays out elsewhere, too. A church in Connecticut recently caused a stir for what critics called an exorcism to remove a "homosexual demon" from a 16-year-old boy. A pastor with
the church told The Associated Press she loved gay people, just hated their lifestyle.
The Grand Strand now has a few gay-friendly churches and plenty of transplants from a multitude of faiths, and it will hold its second Myrtle Beach Pride festival next weekend,
when the Rock Church will perform commitment ceremonies.
But the traditional view about sex holds sway: any sex, gay or straight, not occurring in a marriage - a God-ordained union between a man and a woman - is sinful. Homosexuals
are in the same state as adulterers, fornicators and those practicing bestiality. Nonmarried sex in South Carolina - fornication - is illegal, punishable by up to a $500 fine or a year
in jail.
But that Saturday meeting between Onley and Ketner would not be about debates, exorcisms or church splits. It would be a walk of faith colored by different interpretations of how
God sees gays and lesbians.
Common roots
The then-27-year-old Onley was the third vice chairwoman of the Horry County Democratic Party. Ketner was a political newcomer seeking to unseat an incumbent Republican in a
heavily Republican district. Onley was there to help her canvass for votes.
Just the day before, Onley, a youth minister, had learned that Ketner was gay. She wanted to know what God wanted. That was more important than helping Ketner become the
U.S. Representative of the 1st Congressional District.
Onley grew up in the Baptist tradition, the most active faith segment in South Carolina, at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, in the Bible Belt state that passed a constitutional
gay marriage ban by almost 80 percent of the vote.
She had prayed for six months after first feeling a call to the ministry. Then she spoke at youth revivals and at one saw "at least eight young people give their lives to Christ."
"I felt as if something else had taken over," she said. "I felt that this is what I was supposed to be doing. I felt at home."
Her pastor and the church board approved her initial sermon at Friendship. In August of 2006, she took to the pulpit, "shaking in my heels" and preached about how "Thou Has Left
Thy First Love."
Ketner too grew up in faith. She spent her first six years in the 500-person town of Faith, N.C., before moving to Salisbury. In 18 years of attending a Presbyterian church, she never
heard the pastor mention homosexuality.
"I'm a red-letter Christian," Ketner said. "Jesus Christ is my No. 1 hero as a social justice advocate."
Ketner, as an 8-year-old, sent a petition to President Dwight Eisenhower with hundreds of signatures to ask that Little League Baseball be desegregated.
She drank from "colored only" fountains and spent countless hours in civil rights protests against segregation and said she "studied the Bible in depth as I struggled to find my
place in Christianity, the institution."
She said she noticed greed was mentioned more than 200 times, homosexuality maybe half a dozen but "women in same-sex relationships not at all."
"Moses didn't mention it," Ketner said. "Christ didn't mention it. Seems to me if it were as important as some conservative religious groups make it, they would have mentioned it."
Conflicting feelings
The night before the two were to meet, Onley kneeled. And prayed.
She searched the Web to find out more about Ketner, a successful businesswoman who would wage a campaign that would surprise long-time political observers. Being
sympathetic to gay issues, and openly gay, was assumed to be a political liability in this red state.
"We have to stand up for those who God has his hands on," Onley said.
But could God have his hands on an openly-gay woman in a long-term relationship?
"I knew her religious tradition must have caused her to have a conversation with God about me," Ketner said. "She is exactly the kind of woman who would take it to God. And since
I trust God completely, I felt he and she would work it out."
Onley later felt called to the 35-member Palmetto Missionary Baptist Church founded by the Rev. Cheryl Adamson.
"We don't promote people being gay and sexually active in leadership positions in church," Adamson said. "But we don't sit in judgment of them in public for their private lives."
Adamson says she doesn't tell members what to do when faced with situations like Onley's.
"I teach them the gospel and they make their own judgments," she said. "We are not dictators. We are free in Christ."
Slow acceptance
Adamson's words, and the words of her parents and other faith mentors, were with Onley when she decided to watch Ketner knock on the first door in Bucksport.
So were the lessons from a girlfriend who was blocked from the ministry because of a divorce, and memories of a childhood friend she had watched pray and read the Bible and
attend church as passionately as Onley. She later learned that her friend, like Ketner, is gay.
And she remembered that she herself didn't adhere to the teaching against premarital sex but sang in the choir, while she was unmarried and pregnant.
Still, Onley stood back as Ketner left the first house and went to the second. She began to notice Ketner's ease with those she met.
Ketner's business acumen would be an asset for South Carolina, Onley began to think.
She thought of all the outreach and volunteer work Ketner had done, the kind Christians are called to do.
By the third house, Onley was knocking on doors and introducing Ketner to Bucksport.
She knew she'd get questions from friends - and did - about why a young pastor would help a gay woman get elected.
"I deal often with people's religious traditions coming into conflict with my relationship-orientation," Ketner said. "I grew up in the South and it's hard to find God when many of the
anointed among you tell you that God is not for you unless you can change the unchangeable, or live without the most important relationship to growth and wholeness we have as
humans.
"It's hard to find God when the good who support you are being oh-so-careful and silent," she said. "It's hard to grow up feeling the love of God if you're gay."
But it also shapes you, she said, and your "pain starts transitioning into wisdom," and you learn "courage from your fear" and "compassion from your victimization ... and you feel
that God-love that never leaves you isolated and alone."
She also knows she came within 2 percentage points of beating incumbent U.S. Rep Henry Brown because of people like Onley.
"I believe Angel became a friend and supporter that day because she explicitly or intuitively ... knew all that," Ketner said. "And I'll never forget her, nor anyone else willing to withhold
judgment and listen to Christ's admonition that our job - our only job - is to love one another."
Onley helped Ketner that day, voted for her and might again. Ketner has her eyes on 2012.
In the end, still a sin
Still, Ketner would have a harder time finding a leadership role in Onley's church if Onley creates one after graduating from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
The truth is the truth. Living a homosexual lifestyle is a sin, Onley said. It's not any more sinful than her own premarital sex, but it is a sin nonetheless.
"My discernment with the guidance of the Holy Spirit said that she was truly after helping the people and wanted to make a change for the betterment of the everyday people," Onley
said. "I also understood watching her that she could deal with those in high positions."
"I voted for [Ketner], not on Christian values," Onley said. "If I could take that one little thing from her, everything else would be Christian."