Bigots set back in Tennessee
By Minnie Bruce Pratt
Community advocates for same-sex marriage have
resoundingly defeated anti-gay bigots in Tennessee.
On March 16, commissioners in Rhea County unanimously passed
a resolution intended to bar gay people from living in the
county. Located about 30 miles south of Chattanooga, Rhea
County is famous for the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial."
Two days later, a wildfire of public outcry forced the
commissioners to beat a hasty retreat and rescind the measure.
It is patently unconstitutional under a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court
decision that struck down all "sodomy" laws and established a
basis for overturning all discriminatory laws against lesbian
and gay people in the United States.
The Chattanooga chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians
and Gays and the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union mobilized against the reactionary proposal.
During an emergency meeting called to reconsider the vote,
social worker Esther Jackson held up a sign reading, "Breed
love, not hate." The commissioners had to be escorted by
deputies in and out of the tumultuous courtroom.
This is the same room where John Scopes was convicted almost
80 years ago for teaching evolution in his public-school
science class.
Now some Tennessee legislators are balking at a proposed
bill against same-sex unions, with the legislation locked up in
committee. And a state court in Chattanooga is about to hear a
case, brought by a local same-sex couple joined in a civil
union in Vermont, that seeks to gain legal benefits similar to
those offered married heterosexual couples. Advocates for
same-sex marriage expect the case to go to the state Supreme
Court.
Reprinted from the April 1, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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