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LGBT News Michigan Republican seeks to require all marriages to be performed by clergy

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by AwesomGaytheist, Jun 19, 2015.

  1. AwesomGaytheist

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    Michigan Bill Would Require All Marriages To Be Sanctioned By Religion « CBS Detroit

    Today in the right-wing freakout over the impending gay marriage decision, Todd Courser, a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives who represents Lapeer, Michigan, introduced a bill that would prohibit judges, county clerks, and other government officials from solemnizing marriages. The point of this is to make it extremely difficult for gay couples to find a pastor willing to marry them, thus preventing many gay couples in Michigan from getting married. This coming after our idiot attorney general said that marriage is our state's way of "Regulating sexual relationships," and basically that the state wants to make gay couples' lives as much of a living hell as possible so that they move someplace else. Yet another reason why I hate my home state more and more.

    This is nothing new, though. The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill that would go back to common-law marriages to prevent the state from officially recognizing same-sex marriages, Mike Huckabee says marriage equality will result in Christianity becoming a criminal offense, and compared marriage equality to slavery and the Japanese internment during WWII, a Texas pastor threatened self-immolation to protest agaist same-sex marriage, Ken Blackwell, the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio, compared the gay marriage ruling to 9/11, and a former Republican Congressman, Tom DeLay, urged mass civil disobedience against gay marriage.

    I've said before that I thought Obergefell v. Hodges would be the next Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that the Republicans will spend the next 40 years trying to undo. I stand corrected. I have a feeling that Obergefell will be the next Brown v. Board of Education. There will be a huge right-wing temper tantrum that will be loud and obnoxious, and last god knows how long, but we will have won in the end. What I'm most concerned about is the threat of several GOP Governors, including Bobby Jindal and Greg Abbott to name a couple, that they'll ignore the court and refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Alabama is doing this as we speak.
     
  2. Pret Allez

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    Don't worry, the South will have its George Wallace moment.
     
  3. CyclingFan

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    why is Todd Courser so staggeringly ignorant of the U.S. constitution? There's no way to square that with the first ammendment.
     
  4. Pret Allez

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    It's a definite Establishment Clause violation.
     
  5. greatwhale

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    Looks to me like they are going to keep your Superior Court awfully busy in the coming months and years...and at what cost!
     
  6. CyclingFan

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    If marriage equality goes through at the end of the month, I think it is smart to be on the look out for the reaction. The history of civil rights changes in the USA has always been followed with reactionary backlash.
     
  7. BelleFromHell

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    What a dumbass. I thought Georgian Republicans were stupid, but it looks like your state takes the cake!

    This would affect non-religious straight couples also, right? So much for the seperation of church and state.

    "Regulating sexual relationships?" That's fucking creepy on so many levels. Since when is what I do in my bedroom any of the government's damn business? Besides, making it harder for them to get married won't really stop them from having sex.

    I wish I could go to Michigan and slap each of those idiots in the face. Maybe that would knock some sense into them. Either way, it would make me feel awesome.
     
  8. AwesomGaytheist

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    Trust me I know. The polls aren't looking good for these idiots in 2016 and 2018 here in Michigan, and I hope they enjoy going down in defeat. I think there's a pretty good chance we'll have a Democratic governor after 2018 and these shenanigans will end.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. BelleFromHell

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    Comparing marriage equality to slavery and the Japanese internment during WWII? To be honest, I didn't even expect Huckabee to know about Japanese-Americans being sent to internment camps during WWII. I don't even expect that much from him.

    I'm glad to hear that.

    Under normal circumstances, I don't support Democrats either, but if I lived in Michigan, I wouldn't care. I'd still being voting for them because the Republican bullshit in your state needs to stop, and the Democrats are your only hope.
     
  10. Fred89

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    Eventually all states will have to recognize gay marriage. I do believe that conservative christians are psychological terrorists.
     
  11. BMC77

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    Past the First Amendment issues, there is another thing that I don't think that they have thought of. I am assuming they are trying this to try and stop marriage equality, thinking that no minister will marry a same sex couple. Well, guess again. I can't speak for Michigan, but there are plenty of people in the ministry who would be perfectly happy to perform weddings.

    Of course, they could work around that problem by crafting into the law "standards" of how "Christian" a minister must be, which would be even more flagrantly against the First Amendment.
     
  12. iiimee

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    Sorry honey, you didn't make marriage, and there's no way in Pastafarian Hell you're gonna control it. :wink:
     
  13. Chip

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    Seems to me anyone could ordain in the Universal Life Church online for free, and conduct marriages... which would defeat the purpose.

    I don't think they'd be stupid enough to try and restrict it to Christian ministers, because that's likely to bring the wrath of the Mormons, Catholics, Jews... just to name a few.

    But on the other hand, the stupidity of the Republican Party never ceases to amaze me.
     
  14. BryanM

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    The people Republicans choose to represent them in state legislatures never ceases to leave me speechless. Also, similar legislation to this has already been PASSED in Oklahoma, if I'm correct. These laws are a direct violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, but even looking past this, passing this law shows a clear ignorance of how common law marriage works in the United States. Marriage has always been a secular institution that has never had to be accompanied by a religious ceremony. Seriously, you can just find another consenting adult and head down to the courthouse of the county or parish you live in and more likely than not receive a marriage license. Requiring marriage to be approved by a religious official is so blatantly offensive not only to LGBTQ people, but also for religious nones, such as atheists, agnostics, skeptics and secular humanists. Which begs the question: would a very simple loophole to this law simply to have a friend ordained by the Universal Life Church? If so, this law can't even be enforced if you have the right friend, and even in most cases you can hire a ULC Minister to ordain your marriage. Heck, even some people I know will do it for free of charge if they live in the same county or parish as you.
     
  15. Purp

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    Psychological terrorists... Just yes!:eusa_clap
     
  16. CyclingFan

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    For a party this stupid, they sure do have a lot of power.
     
  17. AKTodd

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    Let's not forget the Episcopal Church, which is one of the major American Christian denominations and which is already performing same sex marriages all over the place.

    Unless Michigan wants to try to claim that Episcopalians are not Christians and to say that only 'Christian' clergy can perform ceremonies ( which ought to play well with the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists, etc) they are just going to embarrass themselves even further (assuming that's possible).

    Todd
     
  18. BMC77

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    That thought had occurred to me as well, but I couldn't remember the name when I last posted here. This, of course, assumes that Universal Life Church would be accepted in MI. I believe some jurisdictions don't accept them for marriages.

    I have seen people from this church--or others like it?--advertising in my area for performing weddings.

    If this bill passes, Universal Life Church could be a good income opportunity for some in MI... Maybe I'll have to become ordained, and move there. Start a church across the street from the knucklehead came up with this bill. My sign board could read: "We believe marriage can be between either 2 men, or 2 women, too!"

    I'm sure they'd have no problems letting Mormons and Catholics perform marriages. Neither would marry a same sex couple, and that's what any restrictions would be about.
    I'm not sure I'd say "stupidity", at least in this context. Yes, this proposed bill does seem stupid. But let's label it more accurately: this bill is simply about sheer, unadulterated hatred towards gay people.

    ---------- Post added 20th Jun 2015 at 11:23 AM ----------

    I doubt they'd make that claim...but at this point I guess all bets are off about how crazy their ideas might be. But I can say that yes, they privately would say Episcopalians probably wouldn't be "Christian" enough. (I've heard something suggesting this from one woman who used to be Episcopalian, but is now Lutheran, although leaning heavily conservative by all accounts. I can only imagine hgw a card carrying fundamentalist would feel on the subject.)

    And don't expect tolerance of other religious groups past what is absolutely necessary--and sometimes not even that. My one-time state representative (despite the fact that I consistently voted against her) made the news once. I don't remember the full story, but basically, while in office, on the job, she managed to make it so very clear her attitudes about Islam that the Islamic community must have been totally pissed off by the bitch.
     
  19. CyclingFan

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    It's a temper tantrum, basically. Poor little bigots are upset that they are a little more restricted socially in who they can hate.
     
  20. GeeLee

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    This smacks of a small child breaking their toys because they've been told to share them with other children.