[Commentary] Gays Can't Marry But Ten Year-Olds Can
I had to bust out laughing when I read this news story on 365Gay.Com. Apparently in their paranoid thrust to "defend" marriage against us evil homosexuals, the state of Georgia neglected to actually look at its marriage laws and note something more than a little disturbing.
In an effort to prevent children born out of wedlock, Georgia passed a law that allows for children to get married, regardless of the age of either spouse, with the only requirement being that the woman is pregnant. This law is currently being used by a Florida woman who wed the the fifteen year-old boy she had been having a relationship with just prior to her arrest. Her defense attorney plans to use a Supreme Court ruling that bans the use of statements made by a spouse. If it holds, which it probably will, the statements the boy made to the police and anything based upon them are inadmissible as evidence.
The kicker though is that, in spite of being told by a Florida woman who wrote the every single member of the GA legislature and confirming what she told them, Republican leaders do not endorse changing the law. The quote from Rep. Karla Drenner, the only openly gay person elected to state office, sums it all up: "We're protecting society from the perceived threat of homosexual marriage, which was already illegal. But yet if you're pregnant, you can get married -- and it doesn't matter if you're 9 years old or 10 years old." Of course the Republicans state that they will strengthen sex offender laws but, as I pointed out, that will not stop this problem because of the aforementioned ruling from the US Supreme Court.
It is simply amazing the level of hypocrisy that exists. Democrats who refuse to vote of a constitutional ban on Gay Marriage are labeled as supporting it. So I guess since these Republicans do not endorse a ban on minors getting married, they in fact support child marriage.
In an effort to prevent children born out of wedlock, Georgia passed a law that allows for children to get married, regardless of the age of either spouse, with the only requirement being that the woman is pregnant. This law is currently being used by a Florida woman who wed the the fifteen year-old boy she had been having a relationship with just prior to her arrest. Her defense attorney plans to use a Supreme Court ruling that bans the use of statements made by a spouse. If it holds, which it probably will, the statements the boy made to the police and anything based upon them are inadmissible as evidence.
The kicker though is that, in spite of being told by a Florida woman who wrote the every single member of the GA legislature and confirming what she told them, Republican leaders do not endorse changing the law. The quote from Rep. Karla Drenner, the only openly gay person elected to state office, sums it all up: "We're protecting society from the perceived threat of homosexual marriage, which was already illegal. But yet if you're pregnant, you can get married -- and it doesn't matter if you're 9 years old or 10 years old." Of course the Republicans state that they will strengthen sex offender laws but, as I pointed out, that will not stop this problem because of the aforementioned ruling from the US Supreme Court.
It is simply amazing the level of hypocrisy that exists. Democrats who refuse to vote of a constitutional ban on Gay Marriage are labeled as supporting it. So I guess since these Republicans do not endorse a ban on minors getting married, they in fact support child marriage.