Joe.My.God. LGBT News
“What is wrong with this Governor and his administration? The comparison of the marriage of adult same sex couples to the marriage of twelve year olds is not only disgusting, but without comprehension of the issue. Same sex couples live in our communities. They have children that go to our schools. They are active participants in every aspect of our cities, towns and boroughs. They work and pay taxes. In fact, they are making great financial sacrifices by staying in Pennsylvania instead of moving to Maryland or Delaware. Coming on the day of the 50th anniversary of the greatest civil rights march and speech in our history, these hurtful and insensitive words from the administration make it clear that the Governor will never understand the struggle that is ongoing to give equal rights to LGBT friends and neighbors. I am absolutely astounded!” – Pennsylvania state Rep. Steve McCarter, referring to yesterday’s brief filed on behalf of Gov. Tom Corbett.
RELATED: Corbett’s spokesman has issued a statement denouncing his own legal team for the language in the brief.
Speaking for Corbett, who is on vacation in South Carolina, Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, spokesman for the Office of General Counsel, said the analogy was being taken out of context through a campaign of misinformation by the governors detractors. The reference to 12-year-olds was only meant to illustrate one group that is prohibited from marrying under state law, he said. But it’s an analogy, the governor feels was inappropriate, Hagen-Frederiksen said. The governor never said it or wrote it, Hagen-Frederiksen said, but his detractors are acting like he did. So Corbett wants to clear his name and wants the public to know, he doesn’t agree with it and he thinks it was an inappropriate analogy, Hagen-Frederiksen said. “That’s coming form the governor’s mouth,” he said. Political enemies of the Republican administration spent a good part of Thursday trumpeting the 12-year-old reference as an alleged act of bias.