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An Open Letter to Judge Philpot: Same-Sex Marriage Is Not an “Oxymoron”

Photo via www.kentucky.com

Addressing the Francis Asbury Society in Wilmore, Kentucky, earlier this month, Judge Tim Philpot referred to same-sex marriage as an oxymoron, like “jumbo shrimp,” illustrating his poor understanding of both literary devices and the LGBT community. Despite his favor toward same-sex couples in multiple adoption cases, Philpot claimed that the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage last year was “pretty close to insane.” Throughout his nearly half-hour speech before the religious group, he continuously expressed misinformation and misunderstanding of the LGBT community in the most peculiar fashion.

So to Judge Philpot, I have a few words:

Your recent comparison of same-sex marriage to jumbo shrimp is something I would expect to hear in a middle school hallway, not in the mouth of a family court judge. In no way does the phrase “same-sex” contradict the words “legal union between two partners in a relationship,” which is what even our law now regards as the true meaning of marriage. You, however, believe that this fundamental right should be restricted to heterosexual couples. You consider such a restriction to be “simple and traditional.”

Maybe you have a point with that last part. But, personally, I’m okay with straying from the traditions of a country that was founded upon slavery and oppression.

What is contradictory, however, is your opposition of marriage equality despite your support of allowing same-sex couples to adopt. As you say, they are “not bad people.” You claim that “half the adoptions [you] do are for gay people” for whom you have a “phenomenal love,” and yet you assert that same-sex relationships are “sterile” and exist only for “entertainment purposes.”

I can assure you, Mr. Philpot, that no one is trying to entertain you.

The notion that you play any role in the sacred love between two human beings is extremely illogical and wildly egotistical. Equally bizarre is your theory that gay marriage will result in there being “not a 12-year-old or 13-year-old or a 14-year-old in Fayette County, Kentucky, that doesn’t have to decide, ‘Am I gay or am I straight?’” Clearly, you have not the slightest understanding of sexual orientation or of what it means to belong to the LGBT community. Your string of absurd and unfounded comments illustrate a deep misunderstanding of and disrespect toward your fellow human beings on the grounds that they possess an identity that differs from your own.

And I’m sorry if marriage equality has, in your interactions with other men, rendered you unable to “hug the way [you] used to,” but your personal struggles with hypermasculinity are not my problem.

LGBT people live in danger everyday, facing imprisonment and often death as a result of simply existing as they are. For the United States to legally recognize the union of same-sex couples nationwide is a major breakthrough in international history. It is a basic right long overdue, and a step in the right direction on a lengthy road ahead.

We would appreciate it if you didn’t compare that to a cocktail party appetizer.

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