Louisiana judge exposes his ignorance (and bigotry) in upholding state's same-sex marriage ban
By Michael J.W. Stickings
With most of the country moving in a progressive direction on same-sex marriage, you knew you could count on a retrograde place like Louisiana to strike a blow for good-ol'-fashioned stupidity, bigotry, and medievalism:
Oh, but it took some of the usual right-wing ignorance to make it happen:
And on and on. ThinkProgress goes on to pick apart what turns out to be a remarkably unlearned opinion, an opinion obviously rooted not in an appreciation for the law, nor in an understanding of the issue at hand, but in the judge's own biases, an opinion that screams right-wing judicial activism. It's bigotry with respect to gay rights, but also astonishing ignorance with respect to the law, as well as to the basic elements of judicial review.
But this guy's a Republican. What else did you expect?
With most of the country moving in a progressive direction on same-sex marriage, you knew you could count on a retrograde place like Louisiana to strike a blow for good-ol'-fashioned stupidity, bigotry, and medievalism:
People who think gay Americans do not deserve the same rights as straight Americans finally have something to celebrate.
After a disastrous losing streak in the federal courts — every single federal court to consider the question after the Supreme Court struck down the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2013 has sided against marriage discrimination — Team Anti-Gay finally found a single court in Louisiana that was willing to stand up for the the principle that same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry. Judge Martin Feldman, a Reagan appointee to the federal trial bench, has now written the only federal court decision in the country holding that gay couples are not entitled to the same rights as straight couples.
Oh, but it took some of the usual right-wing ignorance to make it happen:
Political operatives seeking to cast aspersions on Feldman's approach to gay rights will find a lot to work with in his opinion. At one point, he describes being gay as one of several "lifestyle choices" a person can make. At another point in his opinion, he compares same-sex marriage to marriage between "aunt and niece," "aunt and nephew," or "father and child." He also likens marriage equality to polygamous marriages.
And on and on. ThinkProgress goes on to pick apart what turns out to be a remarkably unlearned opinion, an opinion obviously rooted not in an appreciation for the law, nor in an understanding of the issue at hand, but in the judge's own biases, an opinion that screams right-wing judicial activism. It's bigotry with respect to gay rights, but also astonishing ignorance with respect to the law, as well as to the basic elements of judicial review.
But this guy's a Republican. What else did you expect?
Labels: DOMA, Louisiana, marriage equality, same-sex marriage
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
9:10 PM
1 Comments:
Some of us are born stupid, others get religion. Republicans aren't pushing these antique ideas because they are conservative but because they are religious and religion is the best way to inhibit our best instincts.
We either need a Constitutional amendment or a definitive Supreme court decision and even then the Bible Belt will find some way to victimize their traditional victims.
I'm not singling out fundamentalist Christians either. The mucky end of the religion stick includes Jews and Muslims as well.
Perhaps the ignorance is astonishing, but really, nothing astonishes me any more. It's not only freedom that's the enemy of these people, it's science, reason and any sort of humanist value.
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Capt. Fogg, at 11:17 AM
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