FL: Lawmakers fail to address a proposed law banning bestiality

[kpete]

Source: Miami Herald

LEGISLATURE
Push for Florida bestiality law goes 'back to square one'
Lawmakers fail to address a proposed law banning bestiality, worried about being accused of wasting time on an outrageous topic.

BY CRISTINA SILVA
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- From every angle, a ban on bestiality, long pushed by state prosecutors and animal rights activists, seemed poised to finally become law this year, with Republicans and Democrats in both chambers of the Florida Legislature joining forces to push it through.

Yet it failed.

The inability to outlaw something so repugnant reveals how difficult it can be to get even the most carefully crafted, widely supported bill passed in the Florida Legislature.

........................

Lawmakers said they did not want to be accused of wasting time addressing a rare crime when Floridians needed them to help create jobs. They also did not want to debate the icky subject in public meetings occasionally frequented by children.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/07/1617424/bestiality-law-push-goes-back.html

[Enrique]

1. so the alligators and manatees are still fair game

so to speak?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. ...

[slackmaster]

6. That reminds me of a joke that has the punch line "Where's that Indian I was supposed to wrestle?"

Buckets of beer and an alligator were involved.

[DrDan]

3. In Florida, we have significant unemployment, the schools suck and are getting worse,

and our legislature is wasting bandwidth on this.

[Angry Dragon]

4. I guess the republicans down there

want to be able to have sex with "anything" they want.

One post states that they have other things they need to address, but they are not fixing those things either.

[FarLeftFist]

5. So wait....

Gays can't marry in Florida but having sex with animals is okay?! Riiiiiiight.

[havocmom]

7. It's the only way some wingers can get lucky

Always wondered why right wing pols give so much time worrying about man on beast sex. Am coming to a conclusion about it.
:evilgrin:

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Baaaaaaaa means no.

When the story came out of the guy having sex with a goat..
in Fla, of course,
dear DU member Mira made up t-shirts for me with the above slogan.
They were huge hits as presents at the time.

I really thought Fla. would take the issue seriously.
Maybe compassionate conservatism means they don't want to deny "some" guys their pleasure?

[cutlassmama]

17. Never seen an unhappy sheep farmer. LOL.

[alp227]

9. I thought bestiality was already illegal a long time ago in most states.

Well I wonder why Florida tossed that issue under the bus while getting testimony from Anita Bryant and other Christian conservatives who were complaining that gay rights would demoralize society and lead to bestiality (oh, the irony!) and other taboo sexual behavior to be de-stigmatized.

[ozymandius]

10. Thus demonstrating the clout and effectiveness of the bestiality lobby...

I am so glad everything else in Florida is so fine and dandy that solons are able to devote time and effort to this issue. :sarcasm:

[donco6]

11. Is bestiality a problem in Florida?

For a state chock-full of upstanding fundie Christian types, you'd think they'd have solved it a long time ago. Maybe they need a task force?

[pundaint]

12. "No, no, that was just a pack mule I needed for hiking the Appalachian trail..."

[FLPanhandle]

13. Well, to defend the Florida legislature (god, that may be a first for me), this was attached...

to another bill that was shot down and took the bestiality law with it.

They weren't so much for beastiality as they were against the bill it was attached to.

[Oregone]

14. What a forward-looking legislature

You never know when you'll be all alone in the woods

[Ratty]

15. I once read something interesting on a libertarian website

About how animal cruelty is a big problem in the libertarian philosophy. Since animals are property and you can do whatever you want to your own property as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else then bestiality and all other animal cruelty should be legal for all. That just doesn't sit right with a lot of libertarians, but they can't seem to put their finger on why.

[KamaAina]

16. "Ocala Is Horse Country!"

:evilgrin:

[mikeSchmuckabee]

18. What DID they waste time on?

Since they didn't want to waste time on passing laws. Perhaps they passed a law requiring the reporting of illegal retirees or unlawful possession of a disney costume.