Georgia GOP Chair: Straight People Will Enter Into Fake Gay Marriages

The Chairwoman of the Georgia Republican fears that legalization of same-sex marriage will cause a lot of straight people to pretend to be gay:

A top Republican in Georgia has sounded an ominous warning that legalization of same-sex marriage may also lead to fraud.

Sue Everhart, chairwoman of the Georgia Republican Party, told the Marietta Daily Journalin a story published Saturday that once gay nuptials are legally permitted, there will be nothing to stop a straight person from exploiting the system in order to claim marital benefits.

“You may be as straight as an arrow, and you may have a friend that is as straight as an arrow,” Everhart said. “Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits? I just see so much abuse in this it’s unreal. I believe a husband and a wife should be a man and a woman, the benefits should be for a man and a woman. There is no way that this is about equality. To me, it’s all about a free ride.”

Everhart also expressed a distaste for homosexuality, which she argued is unnatural.

“Lord, I’m going to get in trouble over this, but it is not natural for two women or two men to be married,” Everhart said. “If it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship.”

First of all, I think Everhart has mistaken the 2007 Kevin James/Adam Sandler film I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry for a documentary. Secondly, seriously, Georgia Republicans, you made this woman your Chairperson?

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Gromitt Gunn says:

    Yes, clearly, the sham marriage was invented by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 2003.

  2. al-Ameda says:

    Fiction is dead. You can’t make anything up any more. Lincoln should have let Georgia go.

  3. J-Dub says:

    So what’s to stop straight people from doing the same thing?

    And I’m pretty sure homosexuals have all the equipment they need to have a sexual relationship. Hell, I had all the equipment I needed to get through my teen years on my own.

  4. grumpy realist says:

    As another commentator over at TPM pointed out, gee, you’d think that this woman has never seen the movie Green Card….

  5. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Fairly typical of southern attitudes. The irony is that southern blacks are even more vehemently opposed to same-sex marriages, and to homosexuality, but obviously lily-white spoiled brats on the Internet wouldn’t dare mock a black preacher for saying so. For obvious reasons. A Republican makes for an easy target. A Southern Republican is like shooting a fish in a barrel.

    Marriage fraud is a major problem in immigration-related circles, but I doubt that it’ll be too much of a problem in this arena. Certainly a few fringe elements will be tempted to commit benefits fraud, but those people probably would in any event be committing some sort of fraud.

    At the end of the day, 20 or 30 years from now, we’ll look back and realize that this was a preposterous topic. Not only because mountains were moved for a micro demographic. Because by then the gay and lesbian community itself will have soured not only on marriage but even upon civil unions. Very few will get married. Very few will stay married. Fewer still won’t regret it. Just wait until the alimony and child support payments start hitting bank accounts. Then wait until they figure out how community property works.

  6. Hal 10000 says:

    I know a few couples that married for benefits — taxes or whatever. Strangely enough, they were all straight couples because it’s easier to find someone willing from that 98% of the population that’s straight. That even applies to people who *are* gay.

  7. Liberal Capitalist says:

    This is now the new normal for the GOP.

    April 1st – All Fools Day. Their own holiday. (… and a well earned one as well.)

    This is now the day where the GOP can openly say the deep, hateful bigoted & misogynistic things that are rattling around in their brains.

    If the comments are “misunderstood”.. then they will be able to apologize “if anyone was offended” … and then say it was an April fools day gag.

    Unless someone gets shot by a “conservative” white supremacist.

    Then it is all just about the 2nd… of course.

  8. legion says:

    It’s also moderately common in the military… two single troopers get hitched so they can qualify for Family Housing instead of having to live in the Dorms. Big no-no if you’re caught, but not easy to prove…

  9. Rafer Janders says:

    Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits?

    Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit a gay man and a lesbian from saying that they’re straight, and they’all get married and still live as separate, but they get all the benefits?

    Clearly, we have to forbid men and women from marrying lest this come to pass.

  10. swbarnes2 says:

    Secondly, seriously, Georgia Republicans, you made this woman your Chairperson?

    This is what faux outrage looks like. This is small potatoes when it comes to vile things said by Republicans, and you don’t care about the really disgusting stuff, so you obviously don’t care about this either.

    You think that pretending to be outraged will make you look like a decent guy, but if you vote for the Republicans who believe this trash, you aren’t.

  11. mantis says:

    Apparently the chairwoman is unaware that fraud is a crime.

    “Lord, I’m going to get in trouble over this, but it is not natural for two women or two men to be married,” Everhart said. “If it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship.”

    I’m not gay, but I’ve known lots of gay folks and I’m pretty sure they have the equipment to have a sexual relationship.

  12. An Interested Party says:

    …but obviously lily-white spoiled brats on the Internet wouldn’t dare mock a black preacher for saying so.

    Wrong again, but I’m sure you wouldn’t even realize the irony…

    Because by then the gay and lesbian community itself will have soured not only on marriage but even upon civil unions. Very few will get married. Very few will stay married. Fewer still won’t regret it. Just wait until the alimony and child support payments start hitting bank accounts. Then wait until they figure out how community property works.

    In other words, they will turn out to be as negative, bitter, and venomous as heterosexuals like you…

  13. Stonetools says:

    Two things:

    1. This proves, yet again, that there really are no decent non-bigoted arguments against SSM.

    2. The crazy is still really out there for the Republican Party.

    One thing more…the Georgia Republican Party may self destruct by nominating a Senatorial candidate pushing just such views, giving the Democrats an opening.

  14. C. Clavin says:

    If you are dumb as a box of rocks…odds are good you are a Republican.

  15. C. Clavin says:

    “…because mountains were moved for a micro demographic…”

    Ostracize a few million voters here…a few million there…pretty soon you’re losing elections by 4%.
    Pretty soon you are the party of old white guys.
    Next thing you know you are doing post-mortems on what happened last November.
    And then of course…you prove yourself completely incapable of any significant change.
    Destined to be the party of bigots forever.

  16. Mike says:

    @legion: @legion: No, it really isn’t common. Never heard of a case of it or even a rumor in my 14 years. Now a single female getting pregnant to get her own place, that I have seen

  17. Tyrell says:

    Somewhat ironic, but just the other week the odd news came out that the government has and is still paying out Civil War benefits because of some strange marriage arranging for exactly the reasons mentioned here.
    I saw that article here and several places . When I told others about it, they said that I was making it up.

  18. Neil Hudelson says:

    How’s that rebranding effort going, Republicans? That pivot away from crazy going well?

  19. James Joyner says:

    I know of some people who pretend to be married so they can save on the cost of Costco memberships. But that’s actually pretty easy to pull off, since Costco doesn’t check and you don’t have to tell anybody other than Costco that you’re married. And, if you want, you can choose someone of the opposite sex.

  20. But, but, what about Denny Crane and Alan Shore on Boston Legal? You’re saying that isn’t real?!

  21. bk says:

    @Tsar Nicholas: Oh for god’s sake, just shut up, ok?

  22. C. Clavin says:

    So the deal I cut for an Eastern European bride isn’t legal?
    Bummer.

  23. Surreal American says:

    @Tsar Nicholas:

    Just wait until the alimony and child support payments start hitting bank accounts. Then wait until they figure out how community property works.

    Yes, because gays and lesbians are largely an unobservant lot and as a whole have little interactions with the legal community. Ignore the rumors that some LGBT people have studied and practiced law. Some have even known to (gasp!) enter and exit heterosexual marriages (albeit while still closeted).

    Mocking the Tsarevich really is like shooting fish in a barrel.

  24. Franklin says:

    I heard this criticism 10 years ago, and the immediate comeback (“can’t straights do the same thing?”) still applies.

  25. legion says:

    @Mike: Well, there were rumors of several, just at my first assignment, including one couple who actually got caught & article 15’d. But that was DC in the early 90s… YMMV. That said, yeah – females getting pregnant for the same benefit were probably more common.

  26. Laurence Bachmann says:

    As a gay man I take tremendous comfort from this woman’s remarks. It’s a relief to know your opponents are so incredibly stupid. BTW Sue, The good Lord DID give me “equipment” to have sex. But thanks for worrying.