Oklahoma hate crime law nonsense

Recently a Republican legislator in Oklahoma slipped in an amendment to a bill to prohibit the state from handing over evidence in hate crimes against gays being prosecuted by the federal government to the feds under the new Matthew Sheppard Act on the basis that Oklahoma law does not have hate crime laws for gays. That is irrelevant because there is a federal hate crimes law for gays and it has long been established in case law in the US that federal law trumps state law. Therefore, if Oklahoma did pass the bill in its current form I would support the FBI coming in and seizing the evidence from the state authorities if necessary. The Governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry, is a Democrat. So hopefully he would veto the bill if it got to his desk. It is, however, heartening to be reminded that some Republicans, even some in Oklahoma, support same-sex equality. In this article about the story, http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100322_16_A15_Abillt724803 ,

Toby Jenkins, who is president of president of Tulsa-based Oklahomans for Equality, was quoted. Jenkins defended the right of pastors to preach anti-gay sermons. He said he does not want clergy prosecuted. However, he is President of a pro-gay group. The clincher is that the article says that Jenkins is a Republican. So Jenkins is a pro same-sex equality Republican from Oklahoma. I bet few expected to be able to find one but there he is.