Bill O'Reilly again theorized that the legalization of gay marriage could lead to interspecies marriages, stating to Margaret Hoover, "[Y]ou would let everybody get married who want to get married. You want to marry a turtle, you can." O'Reilly has previously suggested that gay marriage could ultimately allow for a person to marry a goat, duck, or dolphin.
O'Reilly's Ark: Gay marriage could lead to goat, duck, dolphin, and turtle marriage
Written by Andrew Walzer
Published
During the May 11 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly returned to his theory that the legalization of gay marriage could lead to the eventual legalization of interspecies marriages, this time stating to Fox News analyst Margaret Hoover, who argued against O'Reilly's theories, "[Y]ou would let everybody get married who want to get married. You want to marry a turtle, you can." O'Reilly has previously suggested that gay marriage could ultimately allow for a person to marry "a goat," "a duck," and "a dolphin."
During the May 11 segment, O'Reilly also again claimed gay marriage would lead to polygamous marriage, saying, "[I]f you OK gay marriage, then you have to do plural marriage, which is now -- has a name, triads. Three people getting married."
From the May 11 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: All right, Hoover. I did not know this, but I had said from the jump if you OK gay marriage, then you have to do plural marriage, which is now -- has a name, triads. Three people getting married. There is a group in Maui, Hawaii, called the Lessin's adversary group -- advocacy group, and it's World Polygamy [sic: Polyamory] Association. They're associated with that. And they want to be married.
So, No. 1, I'm an oracle. And No. 2, how you can deny them under equal protection under the law?
HOOVER: You can't deny them under equal protection of the law.
O'REILLY: OK, so you say that they have to marry, as well.
HOOVER: No, no. Here's what I think. First of all, I think it is extremely disingenuous for you to suggest that, if you allow gay people to get married, they're going to have to allow -- that polygamy is then going to run --
O'REILLY: You just said you have to.
HOOVER: -- rampant across the United States. Here's --
O'REILLY: You just -- wait, wait. You just said you have to allow them.
HOOVER: Before the camera went on you said to me two things: due process.
O'REILLY: Right.
HOOVER: You know what due process is? Due process is when we have laws, we then enforce them. We don't even -- we barely in five states have laws that gay people can be married. We have states -- laws in zero states that polygamy can happen.
O'REILLY: If I walk in to the Massachusetts state house and say, “Hey, Governor Deval Patrick, you've got to marry me and Lenny.” All right? Because --
HOOVER: I would love to see that, by the way.
O'REILLY: Not only Lenny, but Squiggy too. All right? Or I walk in with the O'Brien twins from South Boston and say, “Hey, you've got to marry me, because you're allowing gays to get married, and I'm in the Lessin's group, the World Polygamy Association.”
HOOVER: You've got to change the law, then. Because the law says it's between two people.
O'REILLY: OK, but --
HOOVER: Not multiple people. By the way, the last time polygamy was on the rise? 1896, when Utah became the 45th state in the union. Not a massive movement going mainstream.
[crosstalk]
GRETCHEN CARLSON (Fox & Friends co-host): Thirty years ago we didn't think we'd be where we are today.
O'REILLY: Carlson's right, though. You have to change the law to include the polygamy people, then.
HOOVER: That's Hoover.
O'REILLY: I mean -- sorry.
CARLSON: And that would be absolutely ridiculous if that happened.
O'REILLY: Why?
CARLSON: Because this is a slippery slope. The idea that we even have a name for this. Now we're going to --
O'REILLY: There's a show -- Big Love. Have you seen that show?
CARLSON: I have.
O'REILLY: Polygamy.
CARLSON: We're going to shame the word “marriage” now by calling it a triad? Give me a break.
O'REILLY: What about -- they're in love? They're in love, Carlson. How you can deny? How can you deny? Look at this guy. He loves all of those women.
CARLSON: I don't care what they do in their personal life. That is up to them with their personal life.
O'REILLY: But you're denying them equal rights.
CARLSON: No. Exactly. I care when the government, and I care when the private businesses of this world are going to be paying for everything with regard to this. I do. Because who's going to be next?
O'REILLY: All right. So you disagree?
HOOVER: I don't buy into the slippery slope argument at all.
O'REILLY: You'd let everybody do whatever they want?
HOOVER: That's the slippery slope argument. That's if you allow one thing to happen, then another thing, and another thing.
O'REILLY: Hoover, you would let everybody get married who want to get married. You want to marry a turtle, you can.
HOOVER: Due process. I want to abide by the law. If the law says I can marry a turtle, I'll marry a turtle. Last time I checked, we're a Judeo-Christian culture that doesn't allow me to marry turtles.
O'REILLY: You've got to take a stand. You've got to take a stand, now. You would be for, then, putting the umbrella over all groups.
HOOVER: I am for what the law says. I do not support polygamy.
O'REILLY: That's a copout. Total copout.
HOOVER: No, I don't support polygamy. I support two people, couples, marriages.
O'REILLY: OK, but then you have to explain why two and not three.
CARLSON: And then you don't call it marriage anymore. It's not marriage anymore.
O'REILLY: Explain why two and not three? And you can't.
HOOVER: I think that the crux of our foundation of our culture depends on --
O'REILLY: On two.
HOOVER: -- two people, yes.