Senate moves to close same-sex loophole in incest law
It was one of those things that seemed so obvious, in spite of how heinous it might be.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 42-0 to provide gender neutrality in incest cases.
What does that mean? That if a man rapes his son, or a woman rapes her daughter, that person would also be charged with incest, along with rape or sodomy.
Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome), who sponsored the bill, said the code on the books now is gender specific and totally disregards same-sex rape.
“Incest is an unfortunate situation,” Smith said. “And this does happen a lot and we were not able to prosecute them on incest. Now we can.”
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
