Rhea County is clearly a very ... different kind of place, isn't it?
The county that was the site of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" over the teaching of evolution is asking lawmakers to amend state law so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature. The Rhea County commissioners approved the request 8-0 Tuesday.
Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the measure, also asked the county attorney to find a way to enact an ordinance banning homosexuals from living in the county.
I'm by way of thinking that they may not have much to worry about on that score. According to the 2000 Census, Rhea County has all of 28,608 people; in 1990, that figure was 24,344. Rampaging uncontrolled growth would not seem to particularly be a problem; one doubts that the madding crowd beating down the doors of Rhea County includes breathtaking number of people of the homosexual persuasion. Even if you assume that 10% of the people in the county are full out flamers, that's still less than 3,000 people; one would think that the county could somehow manage that number. And given the publicly stated hostility, I would think that one could reasonably assume that the number would be significantly lower than that. After all, if they're willing to go on the record with what they must surely know will be regarded as a spectacularly stupid vote and request by most people, then the level of non-public (but equally stupid) hostility would likely be sharply higher.
One could possibly almost feel sorry for the county attorney who will (one assumes) tell them that their request is so far beyond constitutional that it makes a running leap and bound into sheer lunacy. (Unless he has political aspirations, in which case he may actually try to do something with this.)
Posted by iain at March 17, 2004 05:13 PM
