Rogelio V. Solis / AP
Gov. Phil Bryant speaks to reporters at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012.
There are some days when I have to check my calendar to make sure this is 2012. This is one of those times.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant recently denounced a church that stopped a black couple from marrying in its sanctuary. The First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, which is a predominantly white church, told Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson the day before their wedding in July that they were not allowed to be married in their church. The Wilsons are regular attendees at the First Baptist Church.
Gov. Bryant spoke out Thursday, calling the decision "an unfortunate situation," and said that it gives the perception that Mississippi has not changed in the last few decades and is still viewed as being filled with discrimination and intolerance. (Mississippi, after all, was one of the last states to legalize interracial marriage and only did so because of the Supreme Court's decision in 1967.)
Bryant told The Associated Press:
"Look, when people want to get married, we ought to let them get married. We have enough people that won't go and get married. I want to make every opportunity I can for any couple that wants to, to go get married."
Good for Bryant, except that he followed up his statement by adding: "Let me make sure, let's get that right. When I say couples, I automatically assume it's a man and a woman."
Mississippi is one of 31 states in the country that have amended their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage. There are currently 38 states in total that have statutory laws that define marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Real talk, #nerdland: "I want to make every opportunity I can for any couple" to get married should mean any couple, right? Nice attempt to play the good guy, Gov. Bryant, but you can't say your state has changed when you've got a church in your state that denies a couple a space to marry based on the color of their skin and when you yourself refuse to acknowledge the rights of a couple based on their gender.
Leave a Comment:
The gov got it right -- Mississippi has not changed in the last few decades and is still filled with discrimination and intolerance. Hypocrisy reigns there and in all other states that want to value marriage and family then turn themselves inside out to prevent gay marriage and adoption by gay couples.
Should mothers be allowed to marry their sons? Should they? Should they? NO, because we have something called "morality", not to mention that just about every religion prohibits this kind of unnatural union. But there is always an "if" - what if the incest advocacy group becomes very politically powerful 40 years from now just like another sexually deviant group, homosexuals? Will it become politically incorrect to say any negative thing about mothers who want to marry their sons?
seriously? Let's get real - that idiotic argument that if same sex marriage is legal then people will marry dogs, etc. is just ridiculous. Gay adults should have the LEGAL right to marry, we don't want to get married in your church... just have the same legal protections afforded to any other AMERICAN. A man and woman can meet and get married in the same day, then divorced the day after that, yet I can spend 20 years in a monogamous, loving relationship and never legally marry because of someone else's religion and what's between my legs. I think that the anti-gay pov focuses way too much on sex, not love. The separation of church and state is conveniently ignored to suit religious views.
Incest isn't tantamount to homosexuality. SMH.
Baptiste church were always hypocrite when it came to racial issue. First of all are these couple made any contribution to the church? if so they should ask their contribution back and used it elsewhere like a black church. History speaks for itself blacks and whites never went to the same church in the south. In fact, whites used to bomb black churches in the name of Jesus. They should go and get married in black church because these people will never change. I was wondering were they praying to the same GOD?
If I created a work of art and called it person it does matter how it appears to on lookers it remains what I created it to be. I am the individual who designed it. With that have been said marriage was not conceived in the mind of homosexuals or heterosexual so either get to determine what it consist of.
It's ludacrious to be having this discussion especially in a society that has no regards for a creator in the first place. If an individual from either group create some patent for great designed and I came alone and modifed just enough to call it something different to claim it as my own both would be so anger they could wait to get me into court.
So the creator of marriages surely feels the same about the bickering taking place among the like of a degerated society of idots.
What right does a spouse has in the divorce courts or America. My gay brothers and sister should take an afternoon and walk the halls and sit in on a few sessions. I can assure you marriage would be the farthest thing from your mind.
Just for the record to the church..... Human behavior can not be forced because all individuals were created as free moral agents. Everyone has the right to choose how he or she wants to live this life. Trying to legislate behavior whether is abortion of homosexual is not the way to speak truth. The of the matter is God is not in the business of forcing mankind into doing anything it does not willing wnt to accept. Not because he can not but because he will not. Why? Because you are a free moral agent to suffer the consequence of your own actions.