A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma has hit upon what he considers a "realistic" way to ban gay marriage in the state while staying on the right side of the US Constitution: Banning all marriage. Rep. Mike Turner has filed a bill that would end state recognition of any marriage and says he has the support of other conservatives. Asked by News 9 whether it would be "realistic for the State of Oklahoma to say, ‘We're not going to do marriage period,'" Turner responded, "That would definitely be a realistic opportunity, and it's something that would be part of the discussion."
A federal judge ruled earlier this month that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, though he stayed his ruling pending appeal, and Republicans in the state House have a "shell bill" that can be rewritten at any time to respond to rulings on gay marriage, Raw Story notes. The director of the state's ACLU says no other state has considered banning all marriage and Turner's proposal shows how out of touch hardline conservatives are with most Oklahomans. "Moving forward I think we'll see less efforts like this," he says. (More Oklahoma stories.)
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