"New Indiana Law Makes It A Felony For Same-Sex Couples To Apply For A Marriage License" ~ The New Civil Rights Movement, 2013
That is the headline of this article. In a separate op-ed piece, another writer claims that the reason her and her felonious lover (who went 2,400 miles away to accept the only job she could find) cannot be together despite it being legal in their home state is because they are a gay minority couple and nothing to do with her partner's felonious past, the horrible job market in this pseudo-recovery, and her backing a political party that doesn't really care about the poor ...or gays. This is why we cannot get anywhere. No, I don't mean because gays are "ruining America." What I am referring to is the premium we put on promoting our own views, having sensational headlines, and demonizing our opponents. Truth is irrelevant. Google search keywords from this article and you will find several liberal bloggers and other journalists decrying Indiana for getting entrenched in their position against homosexual equality. The impression you get is that Indiana has targeted the gay community for persecution by creating a new felony just for the audacity of filing an application for a marriage license. Someone shared this link with the comment: "Nothing more important to worry about in Indiana?" Well if you accept the article on face value, it would seem that lawmakers in Indiana got bored and decided to pick on gays. What do you see if you investigate further?
Indiana's marriage law allows for the unencumbered licensing and solemnization of a union between one male and one female age 18 or older, not more closely related than second cousin. On the application for a marriage license there is a space for the name of the male and the name of the female. Falsifying an application, registering ineligible individuals, or solemnizing the union of ineligible individuals has been a Class D felony since 1997. The legislature did not change what was illegal or make something that was not previously a felony now a felony. So what did they do? What they did (without regard to gays, blacks, poor, immigrants or any other group) was to revamp the felony system. Starting 7/1/14 felonies will be no longer "Classed" A-D, instead they will be Level 1-6. Beginning in 2014 what was a Class D felony will now be a Level 6 felony, meaning those offenses were actually degraded in severity. So everything that the author spoke about will remain a felony, the least severe felony in fact.
Moreover, nothing about this legislative action stops anyone from engaging in civil disobedience. You and your partner can still go to the courthouse to apply for a marriage license and if you are eligible you will be granted one after paying the fee. If you are ineligible you can demand equal accommodation under the law. If somehow the clerk is having an off day and allows you to file your application, put your partner's name in the free space and claim he or she identifies as that gender. It will make a fine protest.
Therefore, could we please stop with the lies and the shenanigans? If you want relevance go out and earn it. Stop trying to play the American people for fools. In the meantime, your very fashionable Capri pants have burst into flames.
"Don't Believe The Hype" by Public Enemy from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back released 1988 on Def Jam
No comments:
Post a Comment