Governor Argues Against Same-Sex Marriage Because Incest, Polygamy Laws Are Necessary

The governor of Alabama is telling the 11th Circuit that same-sex marriage cannot exist because anti-incest and anti-polygamy laws are necessary.

Republicans in Alabama are working exceptionally hard to derail two federal court rulings that struck down its ban on same-sex marriage. The state attorney general, Luther Strange, has said he will fight both rulings in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. But today, GOP Governor Robert Bentley filed an amicus brief with the 11th Circuit, making some mind-boggling arguments about same-sex marriage and its supposed impact on not only different-sex marriage and the law, but civilization itself.

For instance, Bentley’s brief claims that same-sex marriage cannot be allowed to exist because anti-incest laws are necessary, and they would have to, apparently, be repealed, or not enforced, should same-sex marriage become legal. 

Noting that the New York State Supreme Court upheld “New York’s incest prohibition” because of the potential for genetic defects, Bentley’s brief claims that ruling “makes no sense if applied to same-sex couples.” 

“Does the District Court expect Alabama officials not to enforce the presumption of paternity and incest prohibition?,” Bentley asks. “In order to make same-sex couples equal to married couples in law, that is what the order must entail.”

Rather than allowing legislatures or even courts to wrestle with the issue, especially since there is not a record of any incestuous same-sex couples demanding to marry, Bentley insists that all same-sex couples must be prohibited from marrying.

The brief, as many would expect, also brings up the issue of polygamy, which of course is unrelated to same-sex marriage. And it of course also pushes the debunked claim that same-sex marriage deprives children of their right to a mom and a dad.

“Eliminating the distinction between marriage and non-marital relations,” as Bentley claims same-sex marriage does, “would obscure the nature of marriage, frustrate the State’s efforts to distinguish between marriage and non-marital relations, and threaten the unique legal protections for the fundamental rights of children to have legal connections to their biological parents. That is the very foundation of the fundamental right of marriage upon which the District Court purported to predicate its ruling,” he claims.

Of course, that claim is hogwash. Same-sex marriage has been legal in various states for over a decade, with no family law issues as Bentley describes, whatsoever. And same-sex couples have been raising children for centuries. 

If Gov. Bentley has to reach so far into the world of fiction and fear to make his arguments, perhaps he should stick to reading books instead of writing briefs.

 

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Hat tip: Equality Case Files