Presiding Dent County, Missouri Commissioner Darrell Skiles filed a letter with the city commission asking that flags be lowered to less than half staff for one year to protest “the U.S. high court’s stamp of approval of what God speaks of as an abomination”, referring to the recent SCOTUS decision that ruled same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutinal. “[A]ll who see these flags at this lowered position be reminded of this despicable Supreme Court travesty,” he wrote.
On June 26th, the entire commission which is comprised of three Republicans voted to do it.
The unanimous decision came five days before the first gay couple in Dent County applied for a marriage license:
James W. Cotner, 59, and Gary E. Cotner, 65, made Dent County history with their application. They’ve been in a relationship for 31 years, and say that for 28 of those, they’ve wanted to get married. The couple is planning on finally tying the knot later this month.
The commissioners then abruptly changed their minds yesterday “out of respect for veterans and those currently serving in the military” with all three commissioners expected to vote to rescind the order in a special meeting today. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that they are being mocked and ridiculed all across the country.
Oh, Missouri, thank you for making Michigan seem not the worst when it comes to Republican fail.
[CC Facepalm image credit: Cesar Astudillo | Flickr]
