Candidate's anti-gay comic book targets AG

OKLAHOMA CITY, July 21 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma county commissioner's re-election campaign is distributing an anti-gay comic book that links the state attorney general to "the homosexual agenda."

Legal Newsline reported Monday that in one of the drawings, Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson is depicted holding a sign that says, "Gay rights now!" A caption says Edmondson "put Oklahoma on record to force the Boy Scouts to accept homosexuals as scout leaders, a pedifile's (sic) dream come true."

In an interview Monday on CNN, Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart, a Republican, criticized Edmondson, a Democrat, for filing campaign complaints against him because of his opposition to "the homosexual agenda."

Edmondson last year filed felony charges against Rinehart, accusing him of perjury, conspiracy and money laundering in connection with his 2004 campaign.

Rinehart Monday defended the comic book.

"One person's mud-slinging, I guess, is another man's issues," he said, adding that he thought the comic book was a "a novel approach to telling a story."

He said he believes fighting "the homosexual agenda is an issue in this campaign," just like improving local roads is important to voters.