“The Bible says it’s a capital offense,” Franklin said. “You want someone with unrepentant criminal behavior? And it’s not just that, neither should adulterers, neither should thieves, neither should a lot of things. The church is full of sinners, but we’re told in 1st Corinthians it rattled off the homosexual, the adulterer, the thief, the liar, and such were some of you, but you’ve been washed, you’ve been justified and so forth. It’s not what you were. You’re not punishing a thought. But do you want an unrepentant drug dealer in the military? Same thing.”
Last week, the Queer Justice League, an Atlanta-based gay advocacy group, sent Franklin a letter calling for a public apology and sensitivity training for Franklin and his staff.
Over the weekend, Franklin responded to an inquiry from the MDJ asking if he had received the QJL letter and if he planned an apology. He responded: “I have not seen any such remarks (from The Queer Justice League) and will not waste my time reading them. I will not apologize for making references to what the Bible teaches. If anyone has a problem with what the Bible teaches then their problem is with God and not with me.”
Jeff Schade, a spokesperson for the Queer Justice League said today he was disappointed by Franklin’s response. “We’ve seen Rep. Franklin’s response and are extremely disappointed by it. We’re working to organize a coalition of community organizations to respond to him.”
The story was highlighted across the gay blogosphere and was even featured on Huffington Post, though the negative attention hasn’t softened Franklin’s stance.
The MDJ is widely viewed as a conservative media outlet, but even it struggled to identify with Franklin. Wrote Otis Brumby, Bill Kinney and Joe Kirby in today’s “Around Town” column: “We’ve all heard the expression that someone is ‘to the right of Attila the Hun.’ Franklin, if anything, is even more ‘right’ than that.
The MDJ coverage also included this hilarious tidbit:
Incidentally, Franklin’s e-mail included an unusual disclaimer at the bottom.
“Notice: Due to unconstitutional Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this private email communication without warrant, warning or notice. They do this without judicial or legislative oversight and it is in violation of your and my God-given rights spelled out in the 4th Amendment.”
Calls and e-mail to Franklin’s office for comments have gone unanswered.
Photo: Ga. Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Marietta) (via Facebook)