UFC fighter Josh Thomson issued a statement on Thursday to clarify his provocative comments about gay marriage.
Thomson, who is 20-5 and defeated Nate Diaz in April, started a discussion over Twitter and Facebook about gay marriage. Though he said he was not against gay marriage, he suggested that allowing gay marriage could lead to the fight for equality when it comes to issues such as polygamy, incest, and pedophilia.
Should you be allowed to marry whoever you want? Before you answer that, should u be allowed to have more than 1 wife?
— Josh Thomson (@THEREALPUNK) June 11, 2013
Thomson’s Facebook post sparked a discussion, and he weighed in on the comments of the thread.
“I’m only asking a question. My next question is, should siblings be allowed to marry siblings? My point is, where do you draw the line?” Thomson asked in a comment. “I personally don’t care who you marry but I also am smart enough to know that it opens a gateway to men/women trying to marry young kids, siblings marrying eachother and people having multiple husbands an wives. You have to think all of these things are okay otherwise your stopping them from being happy as well which is hypocrisy. Equality doesn’t stop with gay marriage, it just starts with it.”
Thomson continued to put gay marriage on the same level as bestiality, polygamy, incest, and pedophilia.
“I’m not talking about just gay marriage. I’m talking about where does it stop? Where do you draw the line? People wanna marry animals, children, siblings, multiple husband/wives, etc?
[…] it all comes down to those same people just wanna Be happy like the people who want gay marriage.
“Look, I personally don’t give a [removed] who you marry but my question to you is, why is it okay for gays to marry and your gonna turn around and tell the guy he can’t marry the lil girl next door or the teacher she cant marry the lil boy in her class? Siblings, animals, etc. Why can’t they be happy like gay people an heterosexual people?”
After receiving backlash for his comments, Thomson defended himself in a statement issued on Thursday.
The subject of gay rights, including gay marriage, is sensitive for many people and Mr. Thomson fully supports equality for all human beings.
The statements made by Mr. Thomson were intended to provoke thought on some of the bigger issues that come up when people start to fight not only for equality but for more off-the-wall rights often frowned upon by society.
“I am not against gay rights or gay marriage in anyway,” stated Thomson. “My comments were completely taken out of context by some members of the media and I have since removed them out of respect for anyone who may have been offended. It was not my intention to offend or hurt anyone.”
I get what Thomson is saying because I’ve heard others make similar comparisons. But here’s where the logic is wrong.
What this really comes down to is an issue of consent. Animals and children cannot consent. Polygamy is accepted in some cultures. So are incestuous relationships. The reason incestuous relationships are generally considered illegal or frowned upon is because of the effects of inbreeding (offspring are more likely to have abnormalities). Some states allow some forms of incestuous marriages between relatives. Some people and religions already practice polygamy. But bringing pedophilia or bestiality into the argument is a major stretch and nowhere near the realm of gay marriage.
via Bloody Elbow
