TEXAS: 63 State Pols Sign Brief Linking Gay Marriage To Incest And Pedophilia

In an amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that is signed by 63 state legislators, today the Texas Conservative Coalition compared same-sex marriage to incest, polygamy, and pedophilia. Via Lone Star Q:

The brief states that U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia’s February decision striking down the marriage bans opened the door to a variety of unions that society has deemed unacceptable. “The district court broadened the definition of the ‘existing right to marry’ as one that includes the right of people to ‘select the partners of their choosing’ for marriage, without regard to sex,” the brief states. “If the right to select ‘partners of their choosing’ is the criterion used to invoke marriage as a fundamental right, then marriage restrictions on age, polygamy, and consanguinity are also ripe for challenge.”

The brief also argues that there is a rational basis for the marriage bans because legislators cited arguments they believed to be plausible in passing them. “Another ground cited by supporters of Texas’s marriage laws and subsequently dismissed by the district court is that recognition of same-sex marriage ‘could lead to the recognition of bigamy, incest, pedophilia, and group marriage,’” the brief states. “As already discussed in this brief, restrictions on marriage relating to these moral considerations remain valid. Thus, the goal of actively trying to prevent those practices from becoming valid is entirely rational public policy."

Read the full brief. (Tipped by JMG reader Rob)