Monday, April 13, 2015

South Carolina Asks SCOTUS To Allow Discrimination Against Gays And Women

And it clearly is the stupidity this week because, even though same-sex marriage is legal here in South Carolina, the state is still fighting to stop us from marrying one another.

In fact, South Carolina has filed its own amicus brief with the Supreme Court demanding that they should continue to be able to do so and here’s their argument … no, seriously, this is their argument:

They take an “originalist" stance, arguing that if the Constitution is read just as its drafters understood it over two hundred years ago, then The Gays can be discriminated against because women can be discriminated against.

Seriously.

South Carolina wants to prove that the 14th Amendment — you know that one; it guarantees "equal protection of the laws" to every "person" — was not intended to displace state marriage laws.

And at that time, when the Constitution was penned, in many states, married women were not permitted to own property or enter into contracts and had no legal existence apart from their husbands.

South Carolina wants to bring that back because, well, it’s not the heat yada yada yada.

The crux of South Carolina’s brief, then, is this: If the 14th Amendment permits discrimination against married women, it surely also allows discrimination against gay people who wish to wed because two hundred or more years ago we couldn’t legally wed so let’s keep that law alive.

In addition to that bit of crazy, South Carolina feels that the 14th Amendment forbids only racial discrimination, leaving states free to disadvantage The Women and The Gays any way they choose.

Now, what to do if you’re a black woman, or a Hispanic homosexual?

I imagine South Carolina will feel that being female outweighs being black, so, you know, you’re less than, and being homo outweighs being Hispanic, so you don’t get no equal rights.

Seriously, it’s hot and stupid down here.

4 comments:

  1. I give you props, Bob, for continuing to live there. SC is a maroon even when it gets cold. :)

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  2. As a fellow South Carolinian, I can attest to the truth of the above statement! Stupidity is rampant. All I can say is.....thank god for Mississippi!! Otherwise we'd be bottom of the barrel! :)

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  3. @Susan
    Well, it is pretty and there are pockets of sanity here and there ...

    @Jennifer
    Thanks for commenting, and sharing my pain!

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  4. I. Am. Gobsmacked.

    Most of us have moved on and realized that all humans are persons.

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