Finally, someone’s come up with a rock-solid, bulletproof reason why gay people shouldn’t be allowed to get married: gay marriage will prevent straight people from having babies.
“Same-sex couples cannot naturally procreate, which is of vital importance to the state,” Governor Steve Beshear’s lawyers write in their latest brief. Straight couples “provide long-term economic stability through stable birth rates,” and gay couples don’t.
So, what does a marriage license have to do with that? Well … er … um … they don’t actually explain that. The closest they come is “the distinction drawn by Kentucky’s statutes is rationally related to a legitimate interest of Kentucky,”
This is a very exciting development, because it means that we can look forward to a particularly scathing ruling against Beshear. The argument is ludicrous on its face, and no judge could possibly accept that there’s any correlation between marriage licenses and birth rates.
Of course, it’s an offensive and cruel and destructive claim, since it delays the recognition of marriages for LGBTs. Couples are harmed every single day by the state’s refusal to recognize their relationships.
But in the end, this latest nutty claim is going to lead to a particularly delicious judgement. Seldom are we so excited to read an appellate court ruling.