How Can Haters Enjoy America With All This Legal Gay Marriage Going On?

Cry harder, bigots.

The Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act with 61 votes Tuesday, a necessary move because Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had signaled his lack of respect for marriage equality right after gutting abortion rights. Villains should take a moment to savor their victories rather than announce their next evil scheme. Life is short. Try to live in the moment.

The Respect for Marriage Act will protect same-sex marriage rights from Thomas and his fellow right-wing zealots, who were just waiting for the right case to overturn 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. No one will have to marry a member of the same sex or even attend a same-sex wedding. However, the usual gang of bigots are already whining about how marginalized they feel when people they don’t know are happy.

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 Let's Watch The Senate Protect Marriage Equality! 

 Senate Really About To Protect Gay Marriage, Honest To F*ckin God 

Shortly before the bill’s final passage, Newsmax’s Greg Kelly wondered if this was somehow “payback” for the historical oppression of queer people. No, really. 

“Newsmax's Greg Kelly on same-sex marriage codification: "Is this, like, payback? You know, I've seen it before in history where those who were oppressed suddenly became the oppressors"”

— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1669729575 

“I know that gay people were persecuted for a long time ... is this like payback?” he asked noted LGBTQ-expert Rick Santorum. "You know, I've seen it before in history where those who were oppressed suddenly became the oppressors. Is that an element of that going on? And what’s the end game here? What’s society going to look like in 20, 30 years?”

OK, for all the imbeciles out there, ending historical oppression is not itself a form of oppression. Respecting and legally recognizing same-sex unions does not harm a single heterosexual. Santorum tried to talk Kelly off the rhetorical cliff. He insisted that gay people don’t mean to ruin civilization with their legal marriages, but darnit, that’s just inevitable. This is repulsive bigotry.

“I don’t think that gay people want to harm anybody ... if you look at most people in the gay community, they’re not doing this to because they want to harm anybody. They truly believe this is just a civil right. Look, I respect their opinion, but the problem is it’s being used by those who are in power to further destabilize the family.”

 Fuck you, asshole. 

 In the below photo, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t gloating about his successful plot to destroy the “traditional” family. He’s informing his daughter and her wife that their family is safe. Right-wing bigots are the ones intent on destabilizing families.

“I just called my daughter and her wife—who are expecting a baby next spring—to let them know that this Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act! What a great day!”

— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1669765540 

In reality, the Respect for Marriage Act won’t force (likely Republican-run) states issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. However, those states will still have to recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other (likely Democrat-run) states. This is a reasonable application of the Constitution’s full faith and credit clause, but bigots are shouting, “tyranny!”

The American Family Association whined via email that “the real purpose of this bill is to weaponize federal agencies, like the IRS, DOJ and FBI, to harass and target Christian schools, adoption agencies and social service organizations that hold sincere religious beliefs about traditional marriage.”

You can’t hide bigoted discrimination against an entire group of people under the cloak of “sincere religious beliefs.” Also, people could have “sincere religious beliefs” about divorce or interfaith marriage. They can’t impose them on others in a truly free society.

The AFA claimed that “every state already recognizes same-sex marriages and accepts same-sex marriage licenses issued by every other state.” That’s solely because of Obergefell.   A whopping 35 states ban same-sex marriage in their constitutions, state law, or both. If the Supreme Court overturned the marriage equality ruling, those bans would quickly return. We literally just went through this with abortion trigger bans. 

The torturously named Alliance Defending Freedom called the Respect for Marriage Act “dangerously cynical” and claimed it was "a direct attack on the First Amendment.” These assholes are free to compose folk songs about how much they hate same-sex marriage. No one’s stopping them. They just can’t legally prevent same-sex unions.

 The Heritage Foundation similarly whined, "No American who believes in marriage as the union of one man and one woman should be persecuted by the state or radical activists for their sincerely held convictions.”

Bigots will forever claim they are the truly persecuted ones. However, the Respect for Marriage Act extends more freedom to more people. That’s always a good thing, and the bigots are free to cry about it.

[ Washington Post ]

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