Livin’ in Sin
Well, it turns out that several states have one of the most backwards laws on their books: a ban on opposite-sex cohabitation. Since we try to steer clear of sarcasm, you can trust us that this ain’t our kind of humor, because, well, because it’s really not all that funny. Even if you’re not a fan of this kind of living, it’s hard to believe most folks out there would think that it’s the government’s decision.
The states needing to meet the modern age? Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and everybody’s favorite Dakota, the northern one:
In North Dakota, a man and woman who live together without being married are committing a sex crime. It’s right there in the law, a state senator said, alongside the prohibitions against adultery, incest and indecent exposure.
As you might suspect, these inane laws are rarely enforced, but, of course, that doesn’t mean folks never try to stop guys and gals from shacking up together in the Mountain State:
In West Virginia, a former prison inmate is challenging the state’s anti-cohabitation law because it delayed his parole from prison on forgery convictions. Officials rejected William Stanley’s plan to move in with his fiancee after his release.
Or in the Old Dominion State:
In one case, a Norfolk, Va., day care operator faced losing her license because she was living with her boyfriend.
And in ND there are, of course, folks who think they know what’s best for you and me: “Tom Freier, a spokesman for the North Dakota Family Alliance, said repealing North Dakota’s anti-cohabitation law would signal that the state doesn’t value marriage and the societal benefits it brings.”
I guess we just value freedom over marriage. (Please note: at Progressive Wednesday, we’re pro-marriage for folks who want it, but it’s hard to completely argue for the societal benefits of marriage when every year approximately 2 million people are married and 1 million people get divorced.)
Thankfully, the ACLU exists. According to the article, the threat of facing an ACLU legal team all but forced the Virginia Department of Social Services to renew the day care operator’s license. The good news is that 43 states believe in freedom.
If you live in one of the seven aforementioned states, you might want to ink a letter to the editor or state reps blasting these backwards laws. When the populace learns about it, given the large number of folks living together, hopefully they’ll force the legisture’s hands. Why might this work? Well, because nearly 10 million individuals live together, according to the Census Bureau. To put that in perpective, that’s more than the populations of Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Maine COMBINED!
Or, if writing isn’t your speed today, maybe just give the repressive folks at the North Dakota Family Alliance a jingle at 701-237-4218. (I guess we’ve got a little of the Devil in us.)
All this, to us, is proof positive that our country still has room to improve, or, to quote Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: “There’s a whole lot of walking to do.”
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“Thankfully, the ACLU exists.”
There’s a thought that has never entered my head. Aside from my personal beefs with their views on “Religion and Belief” and “Reproductive Freedom”, the general slant to their particular viewpoints when it comes to whose liberties they choose to protect, and whose they trample on is slightly nauseating.
Any groups that do similar things the ACLU does without its agenda based politics and views woven into their actions?
The short answer goes like this: we don’t know of another similar organization, but there likely is, though any organization will, of course, have their own agendas, biases, opinions.
The longer answer goes like this…
The history of the ACLU is one that we applaud. They were instrumental in Brown v. The Board of Education. They’ve defended conscientious objectors. They are the reason the ban on interracial marriage was lifted. They chided the feds for the internment of US citizens during WWII. They defended John Scopes. They were the first organization to call for the impeachment of Nixon. They’re currently doing battle on our behalves against the NSA wire-tapping and the ironically titled PATRIOT ACT.
The ACLU is against the death penalty. The ACLU supports the ADA. The ACLU actively protects citizens with HIV/AIDS from discrimination. The ACLU supports the VRA, including the three sections that will expire in 2007. In these areas, we firmly agree with the ACLU and it’s actions.
In terms of the context of the sentence, we’d just like to point out that we’re glad the ACLU existed to help this day care worker who was being penalized for breaking an archaic law.
Overall, though, we will admit that we tend to be social libertarians. As such, we do agree with many, *though not all*, of the ACLU’s positions.