The Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Andy Gipson, announced today that Senate Bill 2703, which would have finally made domestic violence grounds for divorce in the State of Mississippi, would not be taken up at all. Gipson is an attorney and a Baptist pastor, so he has some very special views on this subject.

“At a time I think we need to be adopting policies that promote marriage and people sticking together, I have some serious concerns about opening the floodgates any more than they already are,” Gipson said. “I think the floodgates are already open and this just tears the dam down.” Gipson said that inhuman treatment is already a grounds for divorce and that attorneys may need to receive more education about that fact before the Legislature passes additional legislation. Gipson also declined to consider a bill that would make bona fide separation a grounds for divorce, saying that it would allow a person to leave and then have grounds for divorce against “the innocent person.” “We need to have policies that strengthen marriage. If a person is abusive, they need to have a change in behavior and change of heart,” Gipson said. (MSToday)

Inhumane treatment is tough to prove, because it requires corroboration; in divorce cases there also have to be multiple, provable instances.





The Reverend Republican Gipson sounds like a nice guy, and I am certain he has spent a substantial amount of time railing against allowing transgender persons using the restroom, because OH NO THE WOMEN AND THE CHILDREN WE MUST PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS. However, he obviously has no problems whatsoever leaving women and children in homes where the man beats the living shit out of them. So I think he needs to sit down and shut the hell up.

Also, men are subject to abuse as well, and this affects them. They deserve to have protection under the law just as much as women do. One in three women and one in four men are abused at some point in their lives. Mississippi will not protect them if it is spousal.

I am not sure what fantasy land Gipson lives in where we wave a magical wand and suddenly marriages that were abusive are thriving once again. Abusive people need to have a change of heart? Well, yeah, but how often does that happen? And you want to leave them in the home with the people they are abusing while they are experiencing this radical transformation? And who exactly is going to make this happen? This is one of the poorest states in the union. We don’t have free counseling on every street corner. Is the Reverend offering his services as an expert? Obviously he knows something the rest of us do not.

For the love of all that is holy on this earth I am goddamn sick and tired of these social conservatives and their religious laws – or in this case, lack thereof. We’ll just sprinkle some jesus juice and some god glitter on em and that will fix em right up! We don’t need no laws down here, Junior! AMEN!