From Max McLelland of Mother Jones:
There are, you’ll probably not be surprised to learn, three times as many states with no direct prohibitions against the sexual assault of an animal (according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund) as there are states that allow gay marriage.
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dingojack
May 15, 2012 at 9:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well that’s OK because they aren’t planning to marry Sue-Ellen the sow. If they were, that’d destroy everyone’s marriages (even if they’re not married).
- oh and the whole universe would be destroyed by a cataclysmic tearing apart at the quantum level (or sumptn’).
:P Dingo
Dr X
May 15, 2012 at 9:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Of course, because the former is considered sex education in the South.
whirligig
May 15, 2012 at 10:05 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that there’s not much overlap between the legal gay marriage states and the legal animal molestation states.
Blondin
May 15, 2012 at 10:09 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Anything specific about sheep?
Just askin’.
sosw
May 15, 2012 at 10:13 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I would think that there is no need for laws specifically prohibiting bestiality since that would obviously count as cruelty toward animals which is hopefully illegal everywhere.
Forbidden Snowflake
May 15, 2012 at 10:20 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
sosw: is fucking a horse really crueler than riding it, though?
(note: I don’t to either, this is strictly JAQing off)
matty1
May 15, 2012 at 10:20 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I agree with sosw, if someone is committing animal cruelty we don’t need to know whether or not they were turned on to criminalise that behaviour. It might be relevant when a judge orders compulsory mental health treatment but not at the stage of deciding if an act is legal or not.
ogremk5
May 15, 2012 at 10:31 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That’s a relic from the old days…
When men were hard and sheep were nervous.
barbyau
May 15, 2012 at 10:45 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
As we saw with the birth control discussion, this makes sense to the folks who talk about women like cattle. The more fundamentalist you are, the less likely you are to see a difference between a woman and a farm animal.
Trebuchet
May 15, 2012 at 11:08 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“But she’d just been shorn! She was practically naked! She was ASKING FOR IT.”
How do they feel about relations with farm animals of the same sex?
spamamander, hellmart survivor
May 15, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
For the moment, gay marriage is legal in Washington, and they passed bestiality laws a few years ago in the wake of the “Mr. Hands” case. Guess we’re safe.
@6 I’ve actually wondered the same. It’s eww, certainly, but the idea of ‘consent’ really doesn’t apply. Animals don’t ‘consent’ to be factory farmed and eaten, ridden, or shorn for their wool either. If no physical harm comes from it, I’m not sure what all is applicable.
Now I feel icky and need a shower.
Blondin
May 15, 2012 at 3:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve read that dolphins can be quite sexually aggressive. Could a human be accused of beastiality if the beast initiated the sex?