Lingamfelter’s out-of-touch sex bill.
Del. Scott Lingamfelter’s bills are always good for a laugh. Like HB 164: Emphasis of abstinence in family life curricula:
Requires that any family life education course including a discussion of sexual intercourse emphasize that abstinence is the accepted norm and the only guarantee against unwanted pregnancy. The bill also requires that family life courses include materials that emphasize honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage; provide information on the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases; inform students on laws addressing child support obligations and the unlawfulness of sexual relations between unmarried persons; and advise students on ways to avoid unwanted sexual advances and resist negative peer pressure. Further, the bill provides that students may opt out of family life courses if a parent or guardian submits a written objection.
There’s a couple of problems here. Firstly, abstinence is not the accepted norm. Lingamfelter might want it to be the norm, but that does not make it the norm. Secondly, Lingamfelter is a little out of touch with the law on the matter of “the unlawfulness of sexual relations between unmarried persons” — the Virginia Supreme Court struck that down a year ago in Martin v. Ziherl. Again, Lingamfelter might want sex to be illegal, but that does not make it so.
Why can’t Republicans in the General Assembly just accept that people are having sex, and that it’s none of their damned business? Del. Dick Black learned that lesson the hard way. Del. Dave Albo seems to have learned it, too. Del. Bob Marshall is too looney-tunes to ever get the message. I can’t see that Lingamfelter will ever figure it out, either.
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