Hawaii Governor Compares Homosexuality to Incest

July 15, 2010

After vetoing a bill last week allowing LGBT to form civil unions, Hawaii governor Linda Lingle has compared homosexuality to incest, without realizing that in her state cousins are permitted to marry.

Hawaii governor Linda Lingle

Speaking last Thursday morning on Rick Hamada's radio show, Lingle said: "For those people who want to make this into a civil rights issue, and of course those in favour of the bill, they see it as a civil rights issue. And I understand them drawing that conclusion.

"But people on the other side would point out, well, we don’t allow other people to marry even — it’s not a civil right for them. First cousins couldn’t marry, or a brother and a sister and that sort of thing.

"So there are restrictions, not to put it in the exact same category. But the bottom line is, it really can’t be a civil right if we are restricting it in other cases, and it’s been found to be legal in those other cases, that the restrictions [are constitutional]."
 

Laurie Temple, attorney for the ACLU, said: "We're obviously disappointed that Governor Lingle has, once again, used her power to deny the people of Hawaii their civil rights.

"Luckily for the people of Hawaii, however, our constitution prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation. If the governor won't honour her oath to uphold the constitution, the courts will."

The United States overall remains one of the most hostile nations regarding gay rights. The majority of states ban same-sex marriage and in several states gay people can lose their job because of their sexual orientation.

Image source: United States Federal Government