Rhea County officials seek change in law to ban gays
DAYTON, Tenn. (AP) - Rhea County commissioners unanimously voted to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee's criminal code so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature.
"We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the motion.
County Attorney Gary Fritts also was asked by Fugate to find the best way to enact a local law banning homosexuals from living in Rhea County. Commissioners asked Fritts to bring a resolution requesting the ban to next month's commission meeting for another vote.
Fugate said he offered the crimes against nature measure, which wasn't on the agenda, because of recent national and state events concerning gay marriages.
There was little discussion before the 8-0 vote, and commissioners didn't mention that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas sodomy laws last year and ruled there is a constitutionally protected right to adults' private sexual conduct.
Matt Nevels, president of the Chattanooga chapter of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said he knows of homosexuals and their parents in Rhea County.
"That is the most farfetched idea put forth by any kind of public official," Nevels said. "I'm outraged."
Fugate's motion prompted some people in the audience to applaud. Three audience members who spoke before Fugate's motion advocated prayer in schools and denounced drinking alcohol and county zoning.
The Rhea County action came after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday for a bill that would prohibit legal recognition of civil unions and domestic partnerships among homosexuals in Tennessee. Gay marriages already are prohibited in the state.
The state senator who represents Rhea County, Tommy Kilby, D-Wartburg, said Wednesday he hadn't seen the resolution and couldn't comment on it until he did.
"Yesterday in Judiciary Committee, they passed out a bill basically saying we will not recognize same-sex partnerships or civil unions from other states or foreign countries. I voted for that, and that's my position on that issue," Kilby said.
State Rep. Jim Vincent couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
Rhea County, about 30 miles north of Chattanooga, is among the most conservative in Tennessee. It holds an annual festival commemorating the 1925 trial that convicted John T. Scopes on charges of teaching evolution, a verdict thrown out by the Tennessee Supreme Court on a technicality. The trial later became the subject of the play and movie, "Inherit the Wind."
In 2002, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional the Rhea County school board's Bible Education Ministry, a class taught in the public schools by students from a Christian college.
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp...3&nav=1ugFLb9D
DAYTON, Tenn. (AP) - Rhea County commissioners unanimously voted to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee's criminal code so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature.
"We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the motion.
County Attorney Gary Fritts also was asked by Fugate to find the best way to enact a local law banning homosexuals from living in Rhea County. Commissioners asked Fritts to bring a resolution requesting the ban to next month's commission meeting for another vote.
Fugate said he offered the crimes against nature measure, which wasn't on the agenda, because of recent national and state events concerning gay marriages.
There was little discussion before the 8-0 vote, and commissioners didn't mention that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas sodomy laws last year and ruled there is a constitutionally protected right to adults' private sexual conduct.
Matt Nevels, president of the Chattanooga chapter of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said he knows of homosexuals and their parents in Rhea County.
"That is the most farfetched idea put forth by any kind of public official," Nevels said. "I'm outraged."
Fugate's motion prompted some people in the audience to applaud. Three audience members who spoke before Fugate's motion advocated prayer in schools and denounced drinking alcohol and county zoning.
The Rhea County action came after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday for a bill that would prohibit legal recognition of civil unions and domestic partnerships among homosexuals in Tennessee. Gay marriages already are prohibited in the state.
The state senator who represents Rhea County, Tommy Kilby, D-Wartburg, said Wednesday he hadn't seen the resolution and couldn't comment on it until he did.
"Yesterday in Judiciary Committee, they passed out a bill basically saying we will not recognize same-sex partnerships or civil unions from other states or foreign countries. I voted for that, and that's my position on that issue," Kilby said.
State Rep. Jim Vincent couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
Rhea County, about 30 miles north of Chattanooga, is among the most conservative in Tennessee. It holds an annual festival commemorating the 1925 trial that convicted John T. Scopes on charges of teaching evolution, a verdict thrown out by the Tennessee Supreme Court on a technicality. The trial later became the subject of the play and movie, "Inherit the Wind."
In 2002, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional the Rhea County school board's Bible Education Ministry, a class taught in the public schools by students from a Christian college.
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp...3&nav=1ugFLb9D
Outfuckingstanding 
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