In the movie “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” a
bigoted cop bullies a young man, telling him he should move to Cuba because “they
kill gays down there.” His target replies, “No, you’re thinking of Wyoming.”
Wyoming’s reputation was thus tarnished with Matthew
Shepard’s 1998 murder and is tarnished anew annually by the introduction of
shameful anti-gay legislation. The more outrageous the bill, the more national
ridicule it attracts.
This year’s entry is “The Marriage and Constitutional Restoration
Act,” sponsored by Laramie County Representative Lars Lone and Campbell
County’s Roy Edwards. The bill died but the stench lingers. It won’t be the
last time these two Republican lawmakers use their positions to bully others.
They have long competed for recognition as the most hate-filled members of the legislature.
With HB167, the prize is theirs.
The proposal is a broad attack on the LGBTQ community,
combining bigotry with silliness. As one website said, “The bill, in one fell
swoop, says Wyoming shouldn’t recognize same-sex marriages, uphold
anti-discrimination measures protecting LGBTQ people, or back legislation
allowing people to pee in the correct bathrooms in public places.”
The Lone-Edwards bill attempted to circumvent the Supreme Court’s
decision recognizing same-sex marriages demonstrating these politicians neither
understand nor respect the Constitution.
It’s no surprise that they would sponsor such legislation. An
unhealthy amount of their time is spent worrying about how people have sex and in
which bathroom they do their business.
Their current effort to legislate bigotry defines marriages
between men and women as “secular in nature.” Secular refers to something with
no religious or spiritual basis. Think about it. They are willing to abandon
the religious nature of marriage in order to make their point. In contrast,
marriages between people of the same sex are, they say, “part of the religion
of secular humanism.”
Thus, goes their argument, “the state of Wyoming is prohibited
from endorsing or favoring religion over non-religion,” under the 1st
Amendment. If you have difficulty following the logic, that speaks well of you.
With a Kindergartener’s understanding of civics, Lone and Edwards believe a
bill passed by the Wyoming legislature overrides decisions of the highest court
in the land. (Spoiler’s Alert: It doesn’t.)
With malice aforethought, they use the term “parody,”
defined as “a feeble or ridiculous imitation” equivalent to “intentional
mockery or a travesty.” Their bill attempts to redefine marriages between
people of the same sex as “parody marriages.” Actually, parody marriages
describe the one the President entered while continuing to have sexual
relationships with a porn star. The Lone-Edwards bill failed to discuss that
sort of parody.
Demonstrating disdain for both facts and the LGBTQ community,
their bill claims there’s been “a land rush” by those who support same-sex
marriage “to infiltrate and indoctrinate minors in public schools to their
religious worldview.”
In the final analysis, Lone and Edwards seek to have the law
include requirements that the State of Wyoming and its political subdivisions recognize
marriages devoid of religious or spiritual meaning while prohibiting it from
recognizing loving marriages between people of the same sex. They think they
outsmarted the Supreme Court. They only outsmarted themselves.
It is noteworthy that HB167 is about religious beliefs. Representative
Edwards claims to be an Independent Baptist. Lone self-identifies as a
“Christian,” code for “I haven’t committed to any church.” This bill proves neither
has ever read the Gospels. Now, that is not a requirement to serve in the
legislature unless you seek to impose your less-than-well-thought-out religious
views on the rest of this.
If my words sound angry, it’s because I am. I’ve witnessed
marriages between people of the same sex, including that between my brother and
his husband, a most loving 20-year relationship ending with “death do us part”
as my brother died. As a pastor, I have officiated at weddings between people of
the same sex, blessing the joyful beginnings long-term commitments.
They were not “parody” marriages. However, what we have in
Roy Edwards and Lars Lone are a couple of “parody legislators.”
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