US Representative: Straight people will pretend to be gay if equal marriage becomes legal
A US Republican Representative has weighed in on the imminent ruling by the Supreme Court on two landmark equal marriage cases, to say that the court should uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), because without it, straight people would pretend to be gay to get married “for practical reasons”.
Representative John Fleming, made the comments during the anti-gay Family Research Council’s Washington Watch radio show, hosted by the adamantly homophobic Tony Perkins, which was posted by Right Wing Watch.
Representative Fleming claimed that people would enter into same-sex marriages out of “convenience”, and that people would even pay each other as part of the sham agreements.
He said: “Humans can be very innovative sometimes and I can actually see where two people of the same sex, even who are not themselves homosexual in any way, could find a way to get married just for the purpose of sharing those benefits and only for practical reasons.”
The Louisiana Representative went on to say: “It would be similar to marrying someone from a foreign country. Is it done for convenience? Did someone pay somebody to be married? I mean, you can see how the whole institution of marriage could be demeaned.”
After numerous days of non-decisions in the cases, including yesterday, which was already added as extra, the court has added today as a final day for this term.
It is expected to announce its opinions in challenges towards Proposition 8, California’s state-wide ban on equal marriage, and the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars same-sex married couples from many benefits afforded to opposite-sex couples.
