It looks like Kim Davis isn’t the only government employee refusing to do her job. Now, a local judge in Tennessee says he will not grant a divorce to a straight couple because of gay marriage.
Thomas and Pamela Bumgardner were wed in November 2002. The couple have no children together and filed for divorce in September 2014 because of “irreconcilable differences.” But Hamilton County Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton doesn’t give a damn about their wishes. Instead, he denied the couple’s request for a divorce last week after hearing from seven witnesses over the course of four days and going through more than 75 exhibits, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.
Related: Texas Forces Same-Sex Couple Seeking Divorce To Remain Married
Atherton’s reasoning? In his words, the Supreme Court needs to clarify “when a marriage is no longer a marriage.”
“The conclusion reached by this court is that Tennesseans have been deemed by the U.S. Supreme Court to be incompetent to define and address such keystone/central institutions such as marriage, and, thereby, at minimum, contested divorces,” Atherton wrote in his judgment.
In other words, the judge believes SCOTUS changed the definition of marriage when it ruled in favor of nationwide marriage equality earlier this summer, therefore it must also change the definition of divorce, and until then he won’t allow anyone, same- or opposite sex, to end their unions.
Good thinking, your honor.
When asked what exactly the couple should do now that they can’t get divorced, Atherton shrugged and said: “Hopefully, they can reconcile” unwittingly letting the world know that he was substituting his judgement for the couple’s own.
Related: In Alabama, Gay People Can’t Get Married… But They Can Get Divorced
Kathryn Henry
So, same sex marriage doesn’t really harm straight people’s marriages, but it harms their divorces? So much for the sanctity of divorce.
Chris-Tyler Young
So…can we put this nut job in the same cell with Kim Davis? Gays getting married doesn’t change straight folks getting divorced. He just doesn’t want to do his job anymore and found a convenient excuse.
Damian Healy
So. Fucking. Stupid.
Tony Chaplinski
here we go again
Matthew Katz
So someone’s getting fired! Judicial hearing coming up! !
1EqualityUSA
One mosquito is annoying. Thousands are a contender.
Roger Dunson
he sees those $$$ comin
Cynthia Deitrich
What????
Lou Mac
He’s fucking with heterosexual privilege, he’s going to get chopped fast.
Xzamilio
This is beyond aggressive ignorance… it’s like Ebola-level ignorance. 28 Days Later type of ignorance. And this man is a sitting judge. But, no, it’s the “intolerant gay libbies” destroying this country and taking the law into their own hands. The definition of marriage did not change… it was expanded to recognize other types of relationships. Marriage is still between a man and a woman… but now a man and man or woman and woman can marry. Divorce sure as hell wasn’t affected by the Obergefell decision.
Sometimes I wish the Rapture was real, so that these nutjobs would get Jesus Jettisoned and leave us rational humans and Satan in peace.
Andrew Danger Mccurdy
Wow America a new legal low. Just know this is why the rest of the world laughs at you.
Ken Overholt
The logic of this escapes me.
drivendervish
For a long time I’ve always thought that Mississippi was the most backwards state in the country but I would like to apologize to them because it is clear that Tennessee takes the cake for the greatest concentration of ignorance.
Michael Clifford
LOL………this is awesome!! Watching the str8 world just lose their freaking minds over what someone they don’t even know do with their lives. It’s like a front row seat at the circus!! 😀
Derick Lindsey
That’s the county I live in. I hate redneck dumbfucks.
buddy-x
@Xzamilio: Well said!
Conrad Max
What a freaking bonehead!
Get him off the bench and into an insane asylum/nursing home.
MarionPaige
So, exactly how many gay people have gotten married since the Supreme Court decision?
funny how no one seems to be bragging about the horde of gay couples who ran out and got married following The Supreme Court Decision.
Luis H. Lopez
Impeach this tyrant homophobe !
Shirley White
Some one elected this idiot! Why?
Louis
Man the idiocy just keeps getting worse .
When it comes to these peoples stupidity they need to find a cure .
I suggest being locked up in a room with soft white walls personally but that’s just me.
Barry Shatswell
Perhaps he is behind on his CLEs and could use some more classes in the law.
1EqualityUSA
MarionPaige, Even if only one couple got married, at least the decision is up to us, and not others.
Eric Carr
Gay Mawwiage
Daveliam
@MarionPaige: who cares? If even one couple is being denied their basic civil rights by an unjust interpretation of a law, then it needs to be changed. And it was and now same sex couples can get married like straight couples. Problem solved. No one was claiming that there would be hordes of gay couples getting married (also, given that you are using the highly accurate unit of measure “horde”, it’s probably hard to answer your question).
Brian Scott
Opine2
You have to wonder how many other times he has corrupted justice just to fit in his own bigotry.
MarionPaige
If there isn’t an angry mob at your door bent on lynching you and if you can make a living and not be unemployable because you’re gay THEN, yes, you have the luxury to sit back on your tired White Ass and argue that “one tired ass White Queen being denied a right” is like a bad thang.
Bob Pattinson
I’ve heard it all now.
Alford S. Sean
Ass.
Gary Hecklinger
Contempt!!
MarionPaige
the number of White Queens who have married vs The Number of Gay People who can still be fired for being gay.
Matthew Matula
Unfit – terminate his duties immediately – unemployment will allow him time to reflect, go to church and update his Ashley Madison account.
Sansacro
@Xzamilio: Lol. So true.
M K
I actually can’t say this is all that crazy… the repubs have all been shouting about the sanctity of their marriage and how marriage is for procreation etc… honestly, if it weren’t so easy to get a divorce, maybe more people would be more mindful before getting into one… that would preserve marriage – gay or straight!
MarionPaige
@M K: “if it weren’t so easy to get a divorce”
i some states (Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana) have so-called covenant marriages that have limited the grounds for divorce.
Michael Carley
He’s not bright.
Edward Mayo
Okay lower court judge taking on SCOTUS. hold on to your briefs this gonna get nasty. One thing judges can’t stand is a smartass.
Giancarlo85
This Judge violated impartiality and there are grounds for his immediate removal.
jwtraveler
The frightening thing is that someone with his capacity for rational thought and logical reasoning is a judge!
1EqualityUSA
MarionPaige, paramedics would call you a pants-shitter. Is it really that easy to blame, “white-Queens” for everything wrong in your life? Before the ruling came down you were running about yelling, “The sky is falling the sky is falling!” Do you really believe that anyone listens to your drivel? Your views are so wimpy and defeated. Snap out of it! Grow a spine! Your words gross me out. I wonder if you are a NOM plant. Rosa Parks would even bitch-slap you. WTF.
Daniel-Reader
Whah! Bitter, party of one. Someone is having a tantrum because he cannot deal with not being on the Supreme Court. He needs to put on his big boy pants and deal with his lot in life. People should bring him diapers in court to make him feel better.
Joincny
MarionPaige, what is your point, exactly? You’re kind rambling and not making too much sense.
crowebobby
@MarionPaige: Throw out your time machine and you won’t have to worry about angry mobs outside your door bent on lynching you. And stop listening to the voices inside you head; they don’t mean you well.