Outward

South Carolina Senator Rails Against Marriage Equality During Confederate Flag Debate

A floor debate over the Confederate flag is taking place in the South Carolina state legislature today—or, at least, that’s how the session was advertised. You’d be forgiven a certain amount of confusion while watching the proceedings, however, as a particular member of the body seemed to be confused about the purpose of the convening himself.

State Sen. Lee Bright, a Republican from Spartanburg, took to the podium ostensibly to express his feelings in support of the flag. But in an unexpected (though not surprising) twist, he instead used his time to inveigh against same-sex marriage, decrying President Barack Obama’s projection of “the abomination colors” on the White House, asserting that it is “time for the church to rise up” (which was odd, considering that he was in the senate chambers and not in front of his congregation), and defending the right of local clerks not to do their jobs. “If we are not one nation under God, we’ll be one nation gone under,” Bright exclaimed, his voice cracking with emotion. “We can rally together and talk about a flag all we want, but the devil is taking control of this land and we’re not stopping him!”

Lord have mercy.