Obama “Decency Law” Plan to beat HIV-AIDS and build stronger families -
conservatives say it’s a great idea, liberals complain: “Are you kidding?”
By DEREK CLONTZ
Your World Report
Conservatives are licking their chops over a new decency law that will
require single men and women to either tattoo or "clearly mark" the number of
sex partners they've had on their foreheads for the whole wide world to see.
The controversial legislation is at least a year away from
making it to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote, and then, if
passes, to the Senate for confirmation.
But Beltway sources say the so-called "partners
disclosure law" already has lots of supporters, including President Barack Obama, who
believes it will slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV-AIDS and
also strengthen families by slashing the divorce rate.
He is convinced that the shame and humiliation singles
will feel when they are forced to wear a "sex number" on their heads will
encourage them to get married and stay married, reducing the number of single.
"He's right on both counts," says a senior
administration official who thinks there's "a very good chance" the law will
become an issue in this year’s congressional elections.
"For one thing, it will allow prospective dates and
mates to 'comparison shop' and make good romantic decisions based on a person's sexual
appetites and sexual past.
"The way things stand today, if you're a single woman
and you meet someone in a bar, and you're tempted to go home and go to bed with him, you
have to take word for it if he says he's had only one other sex partner and that was years
ago in high school.
"But under the 'partner disclosure law,' you wouldn't
even have to ask. Right there on his forehead would be a number -- maybe it would be '1',
maybe it would be '163'.
"Either way, you'd instantly know whether you wanted
to risk getting intimate with this person.
"But it's not just prospective mates who would
benefit from the law. Everyone else, including prospective employers, could make instant
'value judgments' based on the number of sex partners a person has grubbed with.
"Let's say you're a personnel director who has two
women of equal ability applying for the same job. One has the number '0' on her forehead
and the other has the number '11'.
"If you're hiring for a topless bar, you're going to
take the nymph. But if you're looking for someone to answer the phone in the front office
at your church, you're going to hire the virgin, 'Miss 0,' and thank God you didn't have
to hire the slut."
As simple and straightforward as the law might look on
paper, it's not without its critics.
The American Civil Liberties Union, say sources, "is
champing at the bit" to file a massive, class-action suit on behalf of single men and
women as soon as the decency law is passed.
"The question they're going to ask is why married men
and women don't have to mark their foreheads, too," says a nationally-recognized
Washington attorney who is watching the case closely.
"The way the law is structured now, married couples
are exempt from partner disclosure.
"And as soon as singles get married, they can cover
their number of have it removed.
"But as the ACLU is sure to point out, married men and women
aren't necessarily monogamous. In the interest of disclosure, shouldn't a cheating husband
- or a housewife with a back-door man - have to come clean, too?"
Even staunch supporters admit that enforcement will be
tricky. And just how government officials will determine how many partners a person has
slept with -- and how often they will require singles to update those numbers -- remains
to be seen.
"Just as the miles on an car's odometer can help you
decide whether the vehicle is a good buy, the number of partners on a person's forehead
can help you decide if he or she has been around the block one too many times to suit
you," says the White House official.
"In a world as uncertain and terrifying as the one we
live it, it will be comforting to know that some things -- like questions about a person's
sexual past -- will be one less thing for us to worry about."
Question? Comment? What do you think? Write Your
World Report Editor Derek Clontz . He reads and responds personally to every
letter, often within minutes and always within one business day.
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