Traditional family structure - Maryland style

On the same day that gay families across the state were denied their civil rights this story appeared:

“A Maryland mother was arraigned on drug and child abuse charges after police said she threw her 6-month-old child across a room at a police officer. According to court documents, the incident happened in late July at a home on Inverness Drive in Cecil County.

According to court documents, state troopers were called to a trailer on Inverness Drive to check on the well-being of Evelyn Doninger, 23, of North East, and her two small children.

Officers said that they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the home, so they told Doninger they would be coming in. The court documents said that Doninger told police they had no right to enter her home.

Police said that they noticed a hand -rolled cigarette and a bag with what they believed was marijuana in it, as well as various drug paraphernalia. They also said they found two men inside the home and two children -- a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old. Police said they told Doninger she was being arrested. The documents said she became "incredibly irate," stood up from a chair and threw the 6-month-old at least 5 feet at one of the troopers.

The child struck the trooper's chest and he caught the baby just before it hit the floor, according to court documents. Doninger then shoved the trooper, striking both him and the baby.”


If you recall the judges declared “that the State's legitimate interests in fostering procreation and encouraging the traditional family structures in which children are born” Let’s see Doninger did give birth to these children, check. Traditional family structure hmm let’s see there’s two men in the trailer surely one of them is the father. It’s so nice to see the procreating traditional family prospering in the state of Maryland.

“Police said that the 6-month-old baby is doing fine. Doninger has since been released from jail. She is facing eight different child abuse and drug charges.”

Well hopefully she’ll still be able to get married even if she faces jail time…

What does this Post editorial have to say: If marriage is solely a matter of giving legal sanction to procreation, then what to make of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in a Missouri case granting the right to marry to prison inmates who had zero prospect of procreating? In that 1987 case, the court said marriage was a fundamental human right--kiddies notwithstanding. The majority in the Maryland case acknowledged that the prison case blows something of a hole in their procreation argument but took refuge in a simple declaration that they just don't care: The Missouri case just "does not persuade us," the court ruled.

Oh whew, I’m relieved. The wedding planning may be a b*tch from jail but luckily she will still be able to marry the little tosser’s father if she hasn’t already found the time between rolling those joints. Hey! They’re not going to roll themselves people.

Some of my anger has dissipated after the four judges in Maryland denied our civil rights. I’ve processed it and I’m moving on. If this is the sacred institution they want for themselves let them have it. They’re doing fine on their own in screwing it up.

Let’s have our civil unions. Let’s make them the most glorious, loving institutions the state has ever seen. We need to protect our families and our loved ones from capricious small minds. I hope the Doninger children find a loving and healthy home to grow up in. If that household happens to have two dads or two moms those kids won’t care. They will be wanted and they will be loved and sometimes that’s all a child needs.