Chairwoman of the Georgia Republican Party Sue Everhart has thrown her support behind the forces opposing marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.
In an interview with The Marietta Daily Journal, Everhart made this statement:
“You may be as straight as an arrow, and you may have a friend that is as straight as an arrow. Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits? I just see so much abuse in this it’s unreal. I believe a husband and a wife should be a man and a woman, the benefits should be for a man and a woman. There is no way that this is about equality. To me, it’s all about a free ride.”
MSNBC notes that Everhart made no mention of the possibility of a man and a woman marrying for similar reasons, suggesting that this problem would be exclusive to same-sex marriage.
Everhart adds her voice to the increasing anti-gay marriage rhetoric that has cropped up in response to the Supreme Court hearing cases challenging the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.
According to Salon, Frank Luter, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, implied that North Korea’s increased aggression toward the U.S. in past weeks was connected in some way to the fight for marriage equality:
“I would not be surprised that at the time when we are debating same-sex marriage, at a time when we’re debating whether or not we should have gays leading the Boy Scout movement, I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that we have a mad man in Asia who is saying some of the things that he’s saying.”
This increase in volume from the opposition could also be a response to an increasing number of elected officials and TV personalities changing sides, or coming out for the first time in favour of gay marriage.
