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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 9:32 am Post subject: Kentucky's Argument Against Gay Marriage Recognition |
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In February, 2014, Judge John G. Heyburn II of the Federal Western District of Kentucky struck down a portion of Kentucky's ban on gay couples in relation to the State's official recognition of gays married in other states.
Kentucky's Attorney General Jack Conway (D) refused to appeal the decision.
Governor Steve Beshear hired outside counsel to appeal the decision.
Now, the State of Kentucky has revealed its argument against the recognition of out-of-state marriages for gay couples.
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"Kentucky's marriage laws are rationally related to the state's interest of preserving the traditional man-woman marriage model," the appeal reads. According to the state, the case for legalizing same-sex marriage in Kentucky is different from Loving v. Virginia—the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that invalidated state laws banning interracial marriage—because "man-man and woman-woman couples cannot procreate" and Kentucky has an interest in encouraging procreation in the name of promoting "long-term economic stability through stable birth rates."
The state claims that marriage benefits cost the state money, and stable birth rates offset that cost. However, the appeal does not cite any research supporting this, nor does it provide any evidence that legalizing same-sex marriage decreases the birth rate. The appeal does not mention the economic impact of same-sex couples having children through alternative means, such as artificial insemination, nor does it address the costs to the state of allowing infertile heterosexual men or women to get married, allowing straight couples who don't want children to get married, or housing foster children. (In 2012, Kentucky had almost 7,000 children in foster care, according to the latest government data.) |
What a truly absurd argument.
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| "Kentucky already has a problem with perception throughout the country of being backward and ultra-conservative," notes Bourke, the plaintiff in the case. "Here was an opportunity for a Democratic governor to make a progressive move, and he chose to bow to political pressure instead." |
Mark Twain has it attributed to him best:
| Mark Twain wrote: |
| I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because it's always 20 years behind |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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Were I a Kentuckian, I would be irritated at state resources being pissed away on such an obviously futile effort. Then again, if I were a Kentuckian I'd probably simply move to another state.
Trying to frame the issue in purely economic terms is an obvious losing strategy. Even if it were true I doubt (five members of) the current Supreme Court would accept the argument, and the fact that it's clearly false means it's outright irresponsible to try, wasting valuable court time on nothing. We all know that it's just a matter of time before homosexual marriage is implemented in all 50 states; the moment this was successfully framed as a rights issue, the outcome was inevitable. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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While looking for some statistics I was going to use to for some argument or something, I found this and lost track of what I was doing:
http://www.jokes4us.com/miscellaneousjokes/worldjokes/kentuckyjokes.html
My favorite:
Q: Why did Kentucky raise the minimum drinking age to 25?
A: They wanted to keep alcohol out of the high schools! |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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Q. How do they separate the men from the boys at Kentucky?
A. With a restraining order. |
Does Kentucky have some big problem with pedophilia or something? Because this just seems like a Greek joke with Kentucky randomly swapped in. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
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Q. How do they separate the men from the boys at Kentucky?
A. With a restraining order. |
Does Kentucky have some big problem with pedophilia or something? Because this just seems like a Greek joke with Kentucky randomly swapped in. |
I'm thinking that version was originally about a particular school, going by the use of "at"(eg. "How do they separate the men from the boys at Harvard?"). And the compiler just changed the school to a state, without fixing the grammar.
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Q: Why did Kentucky raise the minimum drinking age to 25?
A: They wanted to keep alcohol out of the high schools! |
This would actually work better for the USA as a whole, which DOES have the highest drinking age among countries that allow alcohol(as opposed to the fictional "25" in Kentucky), and a stereotype for having a dumb populace. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Looking at the whole list, it seems that "Kentucky" is sometimes used to mean a paricular university.
Anyway, some of them are funny, but yeah, basically a rehash of standard "isolated rural people" jokes.
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Q. What does a Kentucky Wildcat do on Halloween?
A. Pump kin!
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I've heard that one about Hutterites and hillbillies. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Were I a Kentuckian, I would be irritated at state resources being pissed away on such an obviously futile effort. |
Yes. It also annoys that there is no evidence either way of the argument which the State makes.
There is a credulousness the argument demands. Oh, sure, I believe that the gay marriage ban in Kentucky was enacted for long-term economic stability and birth-rates. Yup. Sure was. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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Kentucky is a state...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHVLkq7jriY
Anyways, I have no problem if a state wants to ban gay marriage. I have no problem if a state wants to legalize gay marriage. I have no problem if a state wants to ban or legalize marriage between cats and mules. I DO have a problem with a state not recognizing a legal marriage from another state. Full faith and credit. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
Kentucky is a state...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHVLkq7jriY
Anyways, I have no problem if a state wants to ban gay marriage. I have no problem if a state wants to legalize gay marriage. I have no problem if a state wants to ban or legalize marriage between cats and mules. I DO have a problem with a state not recognizing a legal marriage from another state. Full faith and credit. |
If marriage is conceived of as a right, then states banning gay marriage probably violates the 14th Amendment. |
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