Ky. says gay marriage threatens state's birth rates

[Stonepounder]

You knew it had to come sometime. I'm just PO'd that it is a Democratic who is stupid enough to try out the argument.

Ky. says gay marriage threatens state's birth rates
Andrew Wolfson, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal 7:41 p.m. EDT May 9, 2014

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear's lawyers say Kentucky's ban on gay marriage should be retained because only "man-woman" couples can naturally procreate — and the state has an interest in ensuring that they do.

Appealing a federal judge's decision that the state's ban on recognizing gay marriages violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law, Beshear's hired counsel say Kentucky has a legitimate interest in encouraging procreation to support "long-term economic stability through stable birth rates."

...

But the state's appeal says that just because "man-woman couples who are infertile or incapable of naturally procreating are allowed to marry does not nullify the rational basis for a man-woman marriage classification." The state says laws don't have to be perfectly symmetrical to past muster under the equal-protection clause.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/09/ky-says-gay-marriage-threatens-states-birth-rates/8920047/

This has got to be the absolute dumbest argument I have ever heard. First, is there some sort of implication that if gays can't get married to the person they love they will immediately go fund a partner of the opposite sex so they can procreate?

Then there is the nonsensical statement that this particular argument doesn't really apply to post-menopausal women - that the argument doesn't have to be perfectly 'symmetrical' (whatever that means). Of course just because older women can no longer get pregnant, older men can remain capable of getting younger women pregnant, so does the state have an interest in having older couples divorce and the men go find younger women that they can impregnate?

Or is this just a cagey move by the Governor to be seen on the one hand as a proponent of 'traditional marriage' to appeal to do red necks, while at the same time formulating an argument so nonsensical that it will be laughed out of court so that he 'back-doors' gay marriage into Kentucky. "Hey, I tried. I appealed and the courts shot me down"

[pscot]

1. And god knows you can never have too many

Kentuckians. Just ask the folks in Cincinnati.

[Stonepounder]

3. Now, now....

Don't go lumping all of us Kentuckians together in one basket. Remember that even though we have to take the blame for Mitch "Turtle" McConnell, Cincinnati has to take the blame for John Boehner. We have to take the blame for the Creation Museum (which is actually located in Boone County which has more registered Democrats than Republicans), but we can take the credit for the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Wildcats.

And bear in mind, even though our national elected officials are Republican, our state officials are Democrats.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

2. Obviously married gays cause straight people not to have intercourse.

I'm sure Santorum has proven that somewhere and had it confirmed by Bachmann and Cruz.

[Stonepounder]

4. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? <facepalm> n/t

[drm604]

5. Just how stupid can stupid people be?

They seem to be constantly plumbing new depths of stupidity.

[SwankyXomb]

6. Genesis 1:28 is not a legal argument.

Try again.

[demigoddess]

7. Is he saying that nobody has babies

out of wedlock in Kentucky or that if gays get married the straight people will have fewer children as a result?? I guess the fact of a recession, low pay and fewer jobs had no effect what so ever. Bet if they would just raise the minimum wage their birth rate would go up!

[MNBrewer]

10. or if gays CAN'T get married, that we'll just give up, settle down with

with a member of the "opposite" and start popping out infants?

The idea that same sex marriage has any relationship to birth rates, or whether children "deserve" a mother and a father is a non sequitur.

[theHandpuppet]

11. It's so much easier to blame anything and everything on LGBTs

Never mind that the US ranks 27th among developed countries in infant mortality rate or that Kentucky has a higher infant mortality rate than the national average. Dealing with that problem would mean tackling issues such as neonatal and maternal care, poverty and food insufficiency, lack of medical care in rural areas, et al. If the guv wants more healthy babies he can start there and keep his trap shut about LGBTs. I guess the mere mention of gays is a way to troll for votes.

[MisterP]

8. SOMEONE's been watching "Demographic Winter" I see!

fun fact! the guy who coined the phrase "Third World" saw its problem as being massive underpopulation! the more you know!

[TeacherB87]

9. Kentucky threatens Kentucky birthrates...

Gays are just a scapegoat.