A member of OU’s Board of Regents said he thinks homosexuality is “wrong” and compared it to pedophilia on a political talk show that aired Dec. 10.
Kirk Humphreys, co-host of KFOR’s weekly talk show "Flashpoint," said during a discussion about recent sexual assault allegations in the political sphere that “if (homosexuality) is OK, then it’s OK for everybody and quite frankly it’s OK for men to sleep with little boys if it’s OK.”
Oklahoma state representative Emily Virgin (D-Norman), a guest on the show, said she does not think homosexuality is wrong, to which Humphreys replied, “Well I do.”
The above video from KFOR includes the following conversation between Virgin and Humphreys on the show:
Humphreys: Is homosexuality right or wrong? It's not relative. There's a right and wrong, you just said it. If it’s OK, then it's OK for everybody and quite frankly it's OK for men to sleep with little boys if it's OK.
Virgin: I’m unclear on what Barney Frank did other than being a homosexual. Are you saying there was some inappropriate conduct on his part? Because I’m not aware of that.
Humphreys: I’m saying there is a standard of right and wrong. In our society we’ve gotten to where — I’m going to make a lot of people mad today — we’ve gotten to where there's no right or wrong, it’s just all relative. It's not all relative.
Virgin: But Kirk, to compare Barney Frank being a homosexual to Al Franken or John Conyers or the president or Roy Moore making unwanted —
Humphreys: Depends.
Virgin later tweeted a statement saying that she was caught off guard by Humphrey’s “disgusting, offensive, and just plain wrong,” statements.
“I wish that my comments had been stronger and more forceful, but I can assure you I did the best I could under the circumstances,” Virgin wrote in a post on Twitter.
— Emily Virgin (@EmilyVirginOK) December 10, 2017
Humphreys is a member of the OG&E Energy Corp. board of directors, CEO and chairman of the board of the Humphreys Company, a real estate development firm, and served as mayor of Oklahoma City from 1998 to 2003.
Humphreys was appointed to the Board of Regents in 2012 by Gov. Mary Fallin. He graduated from OU in 1972.
OU’s press secretary Matt Epting released a statement in response to Humphreys’ comments.
“Mr. Humphreys expressed his personal views on Flashpoint,” Epting said in an email. “He was not speaking on behalf of the University of Oklahoma.”
The Board of Regents could not be reached for comment as of Sunday afternoon.
Correction: This story was updated at 8:50 p.m. Dec. 10 to reflect that Flashpoint is not a live show but is pre-recorded.
Correction: This story was updated at 10:25 a.m. Dec. 11 to reflect that Humphreys is a member of the OG&E Energy Corp. board of directors, not the chairman of the board.
