FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2018
Contact: Shaundra Y. Scott, Esq., ACLU of South Carolina, 843-720-1423, sscott@aclusc.org
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Six members of the South Carolina House of Representatives have introduced legislation in the Judiciary Committee that purports to undercut the rights of same-sex couples to marriage equality. The “Marriage and Constitution Restoration Act” would define marriage as a “union between a man and a woman,” and amend state law to term unions of same-sex couples as “parody marriages.”
Shaundra Young Scott, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina, had the following reaction:
“This bill is an absurd insult to the gay and lesbian families of South Carolina, and their children. Marriage equality is settled law, affirmed in 2015 by the United States Supreme Court. The authors use a ridiculous legal argument in a blatant attempt to roll back the rights of LGBTQ citizens. The real parody here is not marriages of same-sex couples, but the introduction of the ‘Marriage and Constitution Restoration Act’ as any kind of governing. This should die in committee, and we call on members of the South Carolina House to ensure that this bill never becomes law.”
This statement can be viewed online here:
https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-south-carolina-comment-bill-undercut-marriage-rights-same-sex-couples
