Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett on
Friday compared the marriages of gay couples to the marriage of a
brother and sister.
Corbett was asked about a statement his
lawyers made in a recent court filing to stop a county clerk from
issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The lawyers
argued that licenses issued to gay couples are invalid because such
couples – like “12-year-olds” – can't marry.
“It was an inappropriate analogy, you
know. I think a much better analogy would have been brother and
sister, don't you?” Corbett, a Republican, answered with a smile.
“I don't know,” the anchor
responded. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Corbett, a former state attorney
general, added that he does not believe a pending challenge to the
state's marriage ban belongs in federal court.
“The Supreme Court left it up to the
states to determine under their laws as to what is and isn't a
marriage,” Corbett said. “The federal court shouldn't even be
involved in this. But if they are, then they're going to make a
determination whether the state has the right to determine that a
marriage is only between a man and a woman and not between two
individuals of the same sex.”