An Open Letter To Clarence Thomas

Dear Clarence,

I saw the good news from SCOTUS … that the Court decided the lawsuit against anti-marriage equality Kentucky Kounty Klerk, Kim Davis, who was jailed in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, to continue. Davis had argued that a legal doctrine called qualified immunity protected her from being sued for damages by couples David Ermold and David Moore as well as James Yates and Will Smith, but SCOTUS said ‘No, ma’am.’

Good news, no?

Maybe not, because then you wrote, for yourself and Justice Alito, that while agreeing with the decision not to hear the case, it was a "stark reminder of the consequences" of the court's 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage case. You wrote:

“Those with sincerely held religious beliefs concerning marriage will find it increasingly difficult to participate in society without running afoul [of that SCOTUS ruling] and its effect on other antidiscrimination laws.”

And then you said:

"Davis may have been one of the first victims of this Court’s cavalier treatment of religion in its Obergefell decision, but she will not be the last. … Since Obergefell, parties have continually attempted to label people of good will as bigots merely for refusing to alter their religious beliefs in the wake of prevailing orthodoxy."

I have two words for you, Clarence … fuck off. Wait, I have two more … fucking hypocrite.

You see, Clarence, you, a Black man, married Virginia, a white woman, in 1987 … a mere twenty years after the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. At that time peopled argued that interracial marriage was against “God’s law” and should therefore remain illegal.

So, you see, Clarence, but for a 1967 SCOTUS ruling, you could not have married your wife because people believed God wanted the races to be separate. And now, you want to make same-sex marriage illegal because people believe that God wants marriage to be only between one man and one woman.

And don’t get me started on which religions rules we’ll follow, Clarence, though it’s clear you only listen to the bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ faiths, while ignoring those religions that have come to accept and embrace same-sex marriage, as well as those who are non-religious and think faith should have no place in our laws. And that leads us to that whole idea that this country was founded on a Separation of Church and State, which clearly means that religion has no place in making law in this country.

So, Clarence, kindly fuck off, Clarence. What might you say when a group of religious bigots decide they want to roll back the legality of interracial marriage, and who knows, that may well happen when you let faith dictate law, I hope you won’t mind giving up your wife.

I, however, will not give up my husband, nor will I give up the right for members of my community to marry the person they love.

So, again, Clarence, kindly fuck all the way off.