Wednesday, January 15, 2014

"Basic Plumbing Lessons"

Here we go again. Last month (and year), the 21st Century Know Nothings went to great lengths to defend their beloved Dynasty (of Quackery) after the Dynasty's patriarch had plenty of not-nice-at-all things to say about people of color and LGBTQ folk. We guess when the rest of America has moved comfortably into the 21st Century, the G-O-TEA Culture Warriors must find some televised cave in which to hide from it.

But now, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Born That Way?) is emerging from that cave. And he has something to say. He says federal judges who rule in favor of marriage equality "need some basic plumbing lessons". Wait, what??!!

Oh, no he didn't. Grrl, please!

Rep. Gohmert seems to forget that these judges have actually had many plumbing lessons. In fact, they're supposed to be experts at the plumbing that nourishes the America we know and love: The US Constitution!

Federal judges have overturned state bans on same-sex marriage in three states now — California, Utah, and Oklahoma — in addition to decisions by state courts in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, and New Mexico. The most recent rulings in Utah and Oklahoma are thorough but reach a simple conclusion: defining marriage as only between a man and a woman accomplishes nothing and only serves to discriminate against same-sex couples. The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law, the judges wrote, so the disparate treatment of these amendments violates this principle.

Doesn't Louie Gohmert care about our Constitution? Doesn't he love freedom? What's his problem with America?

And if you're wondering why this all sounds familiar, that's because it should. The equal protection argument forms the heart of Nevada's Sevcik v. Sandoval federal marriage suit. And the US Supreme Court suggested that LGBTQ families indeed deserve equal protection under the law in its US v. Windsor decision last June.

So if anyone "needs basic plumbing lessons", it's Louie Gohmert and other G-O-TEA politicians trying to stop progress on LGBTQ civil rights. Hey, someone's got to say the ugly truth.

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