Sister Wives, Gay Divorce and a Chimp's Day in Court

From the Wired article linked below

 A little over two years ago I wrote "Sister Wives and 'The Next Step'..." about how polygamists were busy building on the gateway Lawrence v. Texas (sodomy laws - linked in the article above) built for the establishment of gay marriage.

The implication was, and is, that if gay marriage is recognized then polygamists will claim that their marital practices should be accepted as well.

Of course supports of gay marriage appear, for some odd reason, opposed to polygamy (and all the other poly's like andry).  See, for example, "After Gay Marriage, Why Not Polygamy" and "A Simple Point on Polygamy".

(Not that, in my opinion, the road to gay marriage was well thought out either.  For example, apparently it never occurred to anyone that getting a divorce might be involve a legal issue.  There are, in fact, no laws (or few) that support it so to get a "gay divorce" according to the article is a non-trivial matter.)

Turns out I was wrong about predicting the success of the Sister Wives.

The gay and poly blocks have apparently been caught off guard by yet another group seeking "rights."

Chimps (as in Chimpanzee).

That's right, chimps.

So while all the bickering and fighting and filing of lawsuits has been going on so that each special group can have its needs made into "rights" the chimps have been busy working on rights of their own.

And not only "rights" - but "human rights."

They are, after all, besides being cute, intelligent and thoughtful.

In any case the chimps are set for their day in court already as described in "A Chimp’s Day in Court: Inside the Historic Demand for Nonhuman Rights."

Just as in the precursors of Lawrence v. Texas chimps are wisely starting out small.  In this case for "bodily liberty," i.e., the freedom of being caged.

Of course, we can all see where this goes next.

I think the Sister Wives should be worried - the chimps may scoop their first place finish.

After all chimpanzee mating habits are certainly not gay or straight but instead fall more along the "poly" line of thinking from what I can tell at a distance.

I mean, gee, once freed of their cages there will be little to prevent them from practicing their on unique brand of "poly" openly around the country side for all to see.

Clearly its a race to the bottom.

Why not grant fish rights as well.

Deep ocean dwellers will, after all, deserve "bodily liberty."

While everyone seems quite certain that there is no "slippery slope" its sure is hard to describe this chimp-based turn of events as anything but.

Good thing for the deep ocean dwellers though.

(Hang in there guys, "rights" on on their way...)