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01/29/2009
Animal instinct: The anti-gay obsession with bestiality
Back in 2000, Ellen pondered why so many 'mo foes jump immediately from gay marriage to goat-schtupping:
Yet despite her apt comedic commentary on the absurdity behind the idea, the gay marriage-bestiality connection is an unfair linkage that our organized opposition has only trumped up in the subsequent years. We of course saw it in the now-infamous Rick Warren video. About a week ago, we heard Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr. do the same. And now, in a recently printed Esquire article, we learn that GOP rising star Mike Huckabee is wont to make the seismic logic-jump:
"The problem with changing the definition of marriage is that once you cross that line, then there's no stopping," he explains. He tells me that when he spoke recently in Japan, there was an American student there who objected to his views on gay marriage. "This was right in the middle of what was going on in west Texas, and I thought, Okay, how can we say that what those polygamists in west Texas are doing is wrong if we allow same-sex marriage? Who are you to tell them that that man can't have fifteen wives? [The student said] 'Well, it's not the same!' And I said, 'Okay, well, here's another one: bestiality. Now I know you're going to have a problem,' and he just went berserk on that. But there was recently an actual news story where a man wanted to marry his animal....I think it was a sheep."
Huckabee says he doesn't know if homosexuality is inborn, but he believes you can control the behavior. He compares homosexuality to obesity or alcoholism: "Some people have a predisposition to alcoholism. Does that mean they're not responsible for getting drunk? No."
Mike Huckabee: The Laughing Man [Esquire]
(H/t: PHB)
Polygamy. Obesity. Alcoholism. And, of course, the aforementioned animal sex. Theirs is a game of anti-intellectual disparagement, where they search for whatever ideas and concepts they think will most scare the American public into voting against LGBT people. They are the ones who are engaging in a truly dangerous behavior, yet do they take responsibility for the pain that their rhetoric causes? NO! They paint us, the members of scientifically valid sexual orientations and gender identities, as [fill in the blank] with the abandon of a feral wildcat at her bachelorette party.
The reality is that these constant gay attacks make folks like Huckster look like a snake in the grass. None of these attacks are more egregious than the one that likens queer folk with those who like a snake in their...well, never mind.
**Read more commentary over at Pam's House Blend, and the full Huckabee piece over at Esquire.
Your thoughts
bestiality, christianity - it's all the same thing.
Posted by: Greg in Mpls | Jan 29, 2009 12:22:26 PM
Marriage is a legally binding contract. The last time that I checked, goats (and any other non-humans) are incapable of entering into a legally binding contract. Similarly, minors (under 18) are usually barred from entering into legal contracts without the consent of their parental unit. That blasts those moronic arguments out of the water. And, in those cases where minors have gotten married, the pedophile in those cases has always been straight. Of course, not all pedophiles are straight, but the vast majority of them are.
Back to the legal aspect, for the fundies and their religious rites, no contract is necessary. So anything could (and apparently does) go in those circles.
Posted by: Dick Mills | Jan 29, 2009 2:04:33 PM
And, one more thing, the last time I checked, alcoholics could enter into marriage contracts. But, when they sober up, they might live to regret it. And, while they may not look smashing in a tuxedo, fat asses (like Huck) can also get hitched - assuming of course that they are rich and looking for a trophy (gold-digger) wife.
Posted by: Dick Mills | Jan 29, 2009 2:28:08 PM
The arguments against this are so simplistic that its insulting time and time again to have to confront them. Is rape the same as consensual sex? Everyone would agree that they are not the same, and the issue is consent. Animals, and children cannot consent, to sex, or into legal contracts so obviously these arguments are poor.
As for polygamy, its a societal harm. Name one cult founded on gay marriage. I can name several on polygamy, and the harm to the women, the young girls, and the young boys is immense. That's why that isn't being argued for.
ARGH! So over these straw men. Give me some real men, willing to expand equality!
Posted by: Joe Peterson | Jan 29, 2009 5:26:45 PM
ON the day that the sheep can demonstrate a full understanding of the complexities of marriage, consent to the contract, take vows, and sign the marriage certificate, on that day I'll be glad to debate the merits of beastial marriage with Huckabee. Until then any comparisons of consential adult marriage between two humans with animal marriage is simply an appeal to raging homophobia and unrestrained bigotry.
Posted by: Timothy | Jan 29, 2009 8:17:32 PM
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