Wow. Here in the dirty south, a Louisiana Justice of the Peace reportedly denied a marriage license for an inter-racial couple. The Associated Press reports the justice said his main concern is for the potential children.
Thirty-year-old Beth Humphrey and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.
Humphrey told the newspaper she called (justice Keith) Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell’s wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples.
“It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009,” said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzman. “The Supreme Court ruled as far back as 1963 that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry.
I understand what Schwartzman is saying, but there’s pretty much a rampant trend of the government telling people who they can and cannot marry these days. Technically, the stipulation is that you can marry anyone of the opposite gender, I guess. But since we’ve started on this line of limiting who marries, the logical extension could definitely be interracial couples. Then, we can start limiting the difference in age allowed. Then hair color. (I have this one question about gay marriage, and then I’ll get back to the topic at hand. What is a hermaphrodite to do? Choose someone opposite the gender with which they identify?)
I honestly can’t believe this guy. He’s trying to say he’s not racist, and to present his concerns as compassionate in some way. But seriously. It’s 2009. We should not even be denying marriage licenses to gay people. How can we be going backwards and denying interracial marriage?
Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.
“I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell said. “In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer.