Georgia House bans genital piercings for women

[DennisReveni]

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=34411
"Genital piercings for women were banned by the Georgia House Wednesday as lawmakers considered a bill outlining punishments for female genital mutilation.

The bill would make such mutilation punishable by two to 20 years in prison. It makes no exception for people who give consent to have the procedure performed on their daughters out of religious or cultural custom.

An amendment adopted without objection added "piercing" to the list of things that may not be done to female genitals. Even adult women would not be allowed to get the procedure. The bill eventually passed 160-0, with no debate.

Amendment sponsor Rep. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, was slack-jawed when told after the vote that some adults seek the piercings.

"What? I've never seen such a thing," Heath said. "I, uh, I wouldn't approve of anyone doing it. I don't think that's an appropriate thing to be doing."

The ban applies only to women, not men. The bill has already been approved by the Senate but now must return to that chamber because of the piercing amendment. Both chambers of the Legislature must agree on a single version of a bill before it can go to the governor for final approval."


So men are allowed to do anything they wish to themselves. Damn silly.

[muchacho]

1. dumb

I think there should be a death penalty attached.

All these folks should be read the riot act. They get paid for this?!

[SemperEadem]

64. it won't pass their Senate, and even if it does, it will be thrown out

on appeal on sexual discrimination principles. You cannot enact a law against female adults who give their consent to piercings and not enact a law against men who do the exact same thing.

A woman's body is not the playground for ambitious politicians willing to pimp puritanical fear in order to get a vote or to win some kind of office.

Maybe, he needs to take a little sojourn on his computer and do a google search on gential piercings, since he's never heard of such a thing. This isn't Subsaharan Africa where females have their clitorises cut off by tribal elders and this Heath person isn't fooling anyone by trying to say he's protecting women. He's not.

[Not Me]

76. hmmm...

Last time I checked Georgia requires women to cover their breasts and men do not have to.

I am not sure the sex discrimination counter would hold up there.

Hopefully the Senate will stop this.

[dbt]

2. Thank you, Georgia!

You just made Arkansas look like a bastion of sanity. We owe you big-time! We can all go back to going barefoot and no one will notice now.

:evilgrin:
dbt

[ZR2]

3. I thought Arkansas outlawed shoes a long time ago

You mean you haven't been barefoot all along ?

:D

[ima_sinnic]

4. just another example of the power men wield over women's bodies

who the hell are they to tell me what I may or may not do with my own body. Sorry, dicks, you do NOT control my "jewels"

Not that I have any desire to pierce them or anything but it's the principle of the thing.

[rfranklin]

11. You should run out and get your rubyfruit jungle bejeweled...

just to stick it to them. Yeah, pierce those privates, that's the ticket!

[smirkymonkey]

38. They're setting a precedent for state ownership

of the female body. Otherwise, I cannot believe they would waste their time on something so completely unrelated to the business of governing the state.

Jezus H. Krist! - what is with these people and sex, anyway?? This obsession is beyond bizarre!

[Guaranteed]

5. Punishable by genital mutilation, probably. nt

[xchrom]

6. too much time on their hands?

what is this -- alistair in wonderland?

[MaineDem]

7. Genital mutilation is one thing

Piercing is something entirely different!

Forced genital mutilation should be a crime, no question! Read about it; it's not a good thing.

But a Legislature should not control what an adult woman does.

[salin]

16. My reaction as well... pushing the piercing issue into the REAL issue

of genital mutilation... is patently ridiculous. The one is done to young women and is horrendous. The other is a selected option done by a consenting person to her own body. I wouldn't object to an age/consent thing in the case of the latter, however. But then again I don't get the desire to pierce my intimate body parts. Just don't think that the government has the right to prevent me from doing so were I too chose. Child protection legit. Peering into adult women's genitals to detect 'lawbreaking'... down right creepy.

[leesa]

29. But then why are male children routinely mutilated through

circumcision? I understand the issues, but why is circumcision hunky-dorey? If you've ever seen one, it is very traumatic to the child. THIS has never been a problem.

[QC]

52. That's an interesting question.

If you were to tell most people that you wanted to strap their dog or cat down and cut off part of its genitals, without anesthesia, for no particular reason, then they would be outraged, but they have no problem with people doing the very same thing to their sons.

[DoNotRefill]

61. Male circumcision...

is done for different reasons. I'm a male who has been "clipped", and I've yet to figure out how it had an even remotely negative effect on my sex life. And I CERTAINLY don't view it as a mutilation, but rather as an enhancement. It makes it much easier to "keep clean", which I'd guess has a demonstrable difference in the willingness of some partners to engage in certain acts. I'm trying not to be graphic here...

"Female circumcision", on the other hand, is entirely different from what I've read. A Clitorisectomy (I think that's what they call it) is done to remove the ability for sexual gratification from the woman, in an effort to make them "chaste". They literally remove the part of the genitalia with the most nerve endings. The eqivalent on a male would be to remove the head of the male genitalia. Yeah, if that were done a man could still pee while standing and may be able to get an erection, but the "fun" would be gone.

BTW, I thought most hospitals that still circumcize males use a local anesthesia now.

[BlueEyedSon]

8. This is NOT from "the Onion"???

:wtf:

[RamblingRose]

9. This is about mutiliation. Piercing was added by some thug. another link

The bill's main purpose is to make female genital mutilation, practiced in many African and Middle Eastern countries, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
 
Fortunate Adem contends that in 2001, her husband took their then 2-year-old daughter, Amirah, away from their home and circumcised her in a traditional African way that has been condemned by the United Nations.
 
The father, a 28-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who denies any wrongdoing, is accused of using a pair of scissors to remove his daughter's clitoris. The practice, commonly known in many African nations as female genital mutilation, is designed to suppress the sexual desires of girls so that they may be pure when they get married.
 
"It is a horrible act," Adem said. "It is painful, traumatizing and degrading."
 
<snip> 

Nationally, the federal Prohibition of Female Mutilation Act was enacted in 1995 to prohibit the removal of certain sexual organs on girls under age 18 unless it is medically necessary and only then if performed by a licensed medical practitioner.
 
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/legislature/0304/25female.html

[DRoseDARs]

12. It amazes me that they missed the distinction between...

...involuntary mutilation and voluntary body art. What, are they going after nipple, penis, nose, eyebrow, lip, tongue, and ear piercings next? They are equal forms of "mutilation" in the eyes of some.

[QC]

21. You raise an excellent point,

but if things go according to their usual pattern at DU, people will miss it in the rush to engage in yet another round of "let's laugh at those silly yokels down south."

Look below if you don't believe me.

[Mari333]

27. I must assure you. Where I live in Michigan

the cretinous outnumber the freethinking people. Just last week they tried to force a biblical value system into our city council. They lost but at the skin of our constitutional teeth.
One only needs to visit Grand Rapids Michigan, home of mega churches and bars and the infamous DeVos family, where white is white and everyone else is a maid.
they close the sidewalks up in Holland MI at 7 pm, and censor all and any films at their fine arts festival that come from furriner countries.
Theres a man here in town who walks thru town with a cross over his shoulder and a crown of thorns every day.
So I post this with all kindness, to let everyone know..visit Kansas or Oklahoma or Michigan in many areas and Indiana which I wont even drive thru for fear of my very life with my anti war stickers, travel thru Wisconsin in some areas, go to small Illinois towns, its everywhere.
Just a heads up to let you know that I KNOW this kind of behaviour is all over the place . Montana, all 8 people there, is included in that.
and lets not forget UTAH. Holy moly.

[Ripley]

35. Yeah. And also to protect "women's rights."

You know like for them to have the right to go topless and make porno.

:eyes:

[SeattleDem]

44. if there is already a federal law against mutilation though

why would the Georgia legislature need to specifically codify it for their state? Doesn't the federal law "trump" the states? I mean, it sounds like the man in this case already violated a federal law. He should be prosecuted under the federal law and the Georgia legislature shouldn't have to be spending its time on this issue.

Unless of course the Georgia legislature's real agenda was to ban female piercings, which the federal law does not address.

[DRoseDARs]

10. This would be outrageous if it weren't so damn funny...

Welcome to Georgia*

*=Greeting not valid to all people.

[Dirty Hippie]

13. From what I *ahem* hear

a strategically placed genital piercing actually increases actually increases a woman's sexual desire.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. Heh-heh-heh....you said "actually increases" twice.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. When will Georgia start random strip-searches to enforce that law?...

...How the heck else could anyone enforce a law like that?

D - U - M - B.

[LiberalFighter]

42. They will probably use the doctors to enforce the law

[Onlooker]

17. Southerners, is your part of the country really that backward?

Are the people of Georgia really that stupid that they would elect 160 House members to (1) address this issue (2) outlaw it? Not one person voted against this dumb legislation that probably will affect only a tiny, tiny number of people. I mean, it seems like the South is turning into a foreign and backward land.

(1) Racism is still prevalent there
(2) Religious intolerance is still prevalent there
(3) Homophobia is still a powerful force there
(4) Confederate nationalism is still prevalent there (What other part of the country wouldn't vote for a President if someone from their region wasn't on the ballot?)

I'm not saying the rest of the country is perfect, but I don't think a bill like this one would have even made it to floor in any of the culturally developed states.

People of the south, please tell me there's hope for your part of the country.

[QC]

19. Same old shit, different day.

Are you *really* sure you want to play the game of pointing to some moronic action somewhere and extrapolating it into broad brush stereotypes of millions of other people? If you are, please tell us where you live and I'll be happy to round up some particularly galling examples of idiocy and ask you to defend them.

If you want to know what motivates the cretin who is quoted in the article, then contact him and ask. But you probably won't find him here. A little clue: the Southerners who hang out at DU, and there are many of us, tend to be liberals. If you want to refight the Civil War with neoconfederates, this is not a good place to find them.

And while we're at it, could you please tell us a place in the good ole U.S. of A where racism is not prevalent and homophobia a powerful force? A lot of us would find that information very useful.

[RamblingRose]

37. Dumb & True state laws

http://www.dumblaws.com/states/index.html

Let's not forget it's illegal to get a tattoo in Oklahoma & South Carolina.

on edit: changed link

[Occulus]

40. my response: 160-0

Reread the vote count. I think a somewhat broad brush, at least applied to the legislature, is perfectly acceptable in this case.

[QC]

54. The broad brush in question was not directed at the Georgia legislature,

who deserve all the mockery we can dish out.

It was directed at all Southerners, asking those of us who are here (and thus probably not fans of the Georgia legislature) to account for their actions. This is not unlike taking all Jews to task for Ariel Sharon's actions.

Now, if someone wants to ask why legislation like this is more likely to pass in the South, then that's a great question that opens up all kinds of interesting political discussion. But people here seldom approach the matter that way. It's apparently a lot more fun to use news stories like this as yet another opportunity to praise themselves on how much better they are than those yokels down there.

As for the legislation, an important point has gotten lost in the rush to jump on the yokels, which is that its original purpose was to ban female genital mutilation. I don't think any reasonable person could take exception to that.

[Occulus]

57. Ah, ok.

I get you now.

It's interesting how the Morality Police can slip in things like this into bills that actually do help women. I wonder how often that happens.

[QC]

60. I think it happens because they seldom read the bills

before voting on them. That's how legislators manage to slip in things like, say, a special tax break that only applies to a commercial washing machine manufacturer in Bugtussle, Alabama. When the bill comes to the floor, it's 3000 pages long and they've only had an hour to read it, so they just vote. Only later do the weird things become known.

As for how that provision got slipped into this bill, who knows, but I'm not surprised. There are lots of puritans in the world lying awake nights worrying that someone might be having fun. Alabama and Mississippi outlaw the sale of sex toys, and Texas forbids anyone from owning more than five. (I guess they figure that if you have more than five, you're planning on selling them.) I have never understood how anyone could possibly think that the state has a compelling reason to regulate dildo ownership.

As for this bill, I hope they strip out the silliness and pass it in its original form.

[Sandpiper]

47. There are plenty of fine southerners

And I'm well aware that not all racists/bigots/fundies are from the south and not all southerners are racists/bigots/fundies.

What sets the south apart as a region is the fact that the xtian fundies enjoy far more clout there than they do in any other region of the country. Yes there are fundies in other parts of the country, but nowhere are they a political force like they are in the southern states.

And when a law like this gets passed, it deserves to be ridiculed. (the piercings, not the mutilations)

[Orangepeel]

whoops, hit the post button twice

[Orangepeel]

20. the law WAS about genital mutilation

and some idiot stuck the part about piercing in it. That would put the reps in kind of a bind. They wouldn't want to vote against a bill outlawing forced mutilation, which they would have to do to vote against the piercing ban.

[LiberalFighter]

43. No Excuse

They should had voted on the amendment if it was an amendment.

But of course they are too chicken shit to admit that women do get piercings voluntarily. What are the odds that a woman with a tattoo has or would consider getting a piercing?

OHHHHH... Is it okay for women to get their nipples pierced? Is it just the clitoris that would be illegal to have pierced or is it also illegal for the labia to be pierced?

[RamblingRose]

26. "only a tiny, tiny number of people", Excuse me - that number is

130 million people worldwide, and 168,000 women living in the U.S. Maybe you would feel differently if it was your daughter.

Yes, Georgia has its share of crazies, but so does Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, ... That's why we come to DU for some sanity.

[Sunny_Sunshine]

50. I hate defending legislator but in this case

The bill was against female sexual mutilation. The amendment was tacked on and there was no discussion. Whose going to vote against a bill forbidding mutilation? "What kind of sicko are you that you would vote for girls to be sexually mutilated." Unfortunately, this is how a lot of stupidity gets made into law and how candidates get painted as being for or against something because of how they voted.

[yardwork]

56. Bigoted attacks against southerners don't help.

I grew up in the north, and have lived in the south for 25 years. There are bigoted people everywhere, and there are enlightened people everywhere. I like my community very much.

The insults uttered by people who consider themselves to be liberal and progressive are shameful. Comments like that contribute to divisiveness, not inclusiveness. Change the objects of attack and they sound identical to something * and his buddies would say over drinks.

[izzie]

18. I am so happy the South is worried about sex.

We can all rest now.

[SiobhanClancy]

22. There goes my plan to move to Savannah...

No debate?? Not ONE person had a problem with this? Very scary...

[kitkatrose]

31. The piercing ban was attached

to a female genital mutilation ban--it's kind of hard to vote against that.

[Paschall]

23. Hmm... Where are all the folks who get so hot under the collar...

...about the French law banning hijab in public schools? Doesn't this law limit "free expression and practice of religion?"

It makes no exception for people who give consent to have the procedure performed on their daughters out of religious or cultural custom.

[RamblingRose]

25. This is a procedure forced upon women BY MEN, not one that women choose

for themselves or their daughters as a cultural custom. I believe a couple of prominent women of African descent have spoken up against the practice (David Bowie's wife?).

This kind of bullshit gets attached to bills all the time. That is why you should speak up and voice out.

Sen. Nadine Thomas (D-Decatur), one of the key backers of the original Senate bill, was incensed about the amendment. She said a bill originally designed to protect women and girls now limits what women can do with their bodies.
 
"This is just another stone being thrown at women," Thomas said. "What he is doing is diminishing what we are trying to do to protect women and girls. It is gender discrimination."

I thought DU'ers were smart enough to see through the political BS being played, and address the real issues rather than throw geographical stereotypes. Since this is an African custom, what do you stereotypers want to say about that!!???

[Paschall]

49. I'm not sure who you're referring to as "stereotypers"

But genital mutilation is quite often forced on young girls by women, and actually performed by women... albeit in patriarchal African societies. And there are young girls who choose it under societal pressure.

[RamblingRose]

58. In this case, the article states that it was done by the father against

mothers' wishes.

[Mari333]

24. No dildoes in Alabama no genital piercings in Georgia

They can pry that dildo from my cold dead hands, says Alabama woman, holding an automatic rifle in the other hand
Or do we now have LABIA POLICE checking genitalia?
MADAME SHOW US YOUR LABIA YOU ARE UNDER ARREST ACCORDING TO SECTION 123 OF MUNICIPAL CODE 456 STATE OF GEORGIA : YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT ANYTHING HANGING FROM YOUR LABIA WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU

this is called POLITICS and some people have labia on their minds wayyy too much.

keep an eye on the sheep for gods sake.
edit to add: Michigan is loaded with idiots..they are everywhere, not just in the South. we fight them off daily.Believe me. Its not just the south. Come to the Midwest, it's rife with cretins.

[alapolitical]

46. BTW...........

The Alabama dildo law was repealed several years ago.

[Mari333]

62. aye but theres still a Texas law saying one can have sex with animals

:bounce:

[tigereye]

75. LOl Mari good one

[indepat]

28. Will they need "probable cause" before checking out a female's

genitals?

[sybylla]

36. It most likely forces the medical community into mandatory reporters

Just as they are now in most states under child abuse statutes. That means if you had the piercing done out of state or before the law went into effect, you'll probably have some explaining to do on your next gyn visit.

[iam]

30. I live in Georgia

and I am embarrased.
What ever happened to the conservative mantra (another lie) "Vote Freedom First"?

[Bandit]

32. Sounds unconstitutional to me

How can they discriminate between men and women? It also sounds like they are practicing medicine without a license.

[smirkymonkey]

39. Or, more likely, practicing law

without a brain...

[DoNotRefill]

63. The same way that they could ban prostate surgery for women...

eom

[Bandit]

66. ???? I have never heard of them doing that.

Is this a fact? Have they banned that practice for women? What are the grounds they were able to make such a medical decision?

[DoNotRefill]

69. nah..

prostates are a male thing. I don't think (most) women have them.

It was sarcasm...

[Bandit]

70. I guess you can tell I'm not a Doctor?

:dunce: If you would have said penis I would have known better but you start talking glands and I'm lost.

[VelmaD]

33. I'm calling bullshit on the amendment's sponsor...

for pretending to be shocked that women get genitla piercings. If he didn't know people did it then how did he know to write an amendment banning it? :eyes: Utter horseshit and just one more ridiculous slap at women's rights to control their own body.

Oh, and they can have my nipple ring when they pry it from my cold dead boob.

[yellowcanine]

34. How many of them knew what was in the bill? This is hysterical.

My guess is they will quietly remove this amendment after they become a national laughingstock.

[Tippy]

41. The next thing they will ban.....

Will be milking a cow by hand insdtead of machine..

[Sandpiper]

45. I can't decide whether Georigiastan or Alabamastan

is the idiot fundie capital of the world.

[QC]

55. Ever been out to the Sacramento Valley?

A friend of mine was fired from a high school teaching job there for assigning dirty books----by Faulkner, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. The school board was stunned that someone would subject their children to such filth.

We don't have all the fundies down here.

[SemperEadem]

67. I think that adults now days are far more repressed

and far more intentionally ignorant than they were 30 years ago.

[tom_paine]

48. The Busheviks are getting restless. That is a move Stalin would have

approved of.

They just can't WAIT to go Full-On-Free-Market-Soviet, can they?

Well, you Bushevik Toads...Free America might have something to say about your little plans...

[Walt Starr]

51. Can't have none of that clitoral piercing stuff, women may actually

enjoy sexual stimulation, dontcha know.

That sort of thing makes baby Jesus cry.

[DoNotRefill]

65. Walt....

It's kind of hard to enjoy sexual stimulation when your clitoris was involuntarily removed as a cultural thing when you were a child.

I don't agree with the piercing of adults aspect of this bill. But I'm 100% behind banning it for minors, due to the outrageous nature of some procedures done in some cultures against the child's will.

Clitoris: good.
Clitoris piercing if you're an adult: If that floats your boat, OK, have fun, and I hope you like it (SHUDDER).
Clitoris removed from a 5 year old so she will not have a desire to have sex ever again: BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

I vaguely recall an immigration case a few years back where they were going to deport a woman and her female child. The mother raised the "female circumcision" aspect, that if they went back, the daughter would be forced to undergo forced genital mutilation, which was SOP in the country in question. I think (Gawd, I HOPE) that she was granted asylum.

[Walt Starr]

74. You didn't get the point of the story, did you?

Some asshole decided to push through a ban on clitoral piercing for adult women, even with their consent, as an amendment to a bill nobody in their right mind could justify voting against.

Moralistic bullshit was pushed through on what otherwise was a wise movement.

[sleipnir]

53. Reason #432 not to live in Georgia or the South

:evilgrin:

[DoNotRefill]

59. This bill would have my total support if there was one change....

It should apply only to minors under the age of 18.

Female genital mutilation can be an almost good or very bad thing. If it's done by an adult who wants it done, hey, who are we to say it's a bad thing? It's a woman's choice. I've known people who have had it done for personal reasons, and who derive great personal satisfaction from it. But forced genital mutilation (AKA "female circumcision") of minors for cultural reasons is an unmitigated horror left over from the proverbial "Dark Ages", and NEEDS to be banned. Parents should not be able to have their children sexually mutilated.

[polazarus]

68. This thing

Is seriously flawed. I can agree that having a female childs clitorus cut off is wrong. I do not agree with the part of the adult not being able to have body piercings. I think if they are going to do this they should include Penis rings and spikes. The theme here is the adults have a choice the child did not. This is willfully depriving a girl of a future sex life whom she does not have control of her own body.

[flaminbats]

71. This is the bastard who beat Tom Murphy...

if Murphy had been speaker, this legislation would never see the light of day..but it would only be allowed a vote if it applied equally to both genders.

Tom Murphy was a staunch champion of individual freedom, and never let any legislation like this belittle the legislative process. Georgia never had a stronger defender of womens' rights as well as that state's strong pro-choice laws.

[LynneSin]

72. 2 to 20 years of jail time????!!!!!!??????

Geez glad we're putting the 'real' criminals behind bars

:crazy:

[mtnester]

73. WTF?

It's not like this is FORCED mutilation like female circumcision. These doodoo heads probably don't want ANYTHING to do with female genitalia, as in their minds it is dirty. Hope somone files a discrimination complaint since the boys can still freely pierce their own dangles.

[Solly Mack]

77. Could that state get any dumber?

Spare me the Georgian outrage - I was born and raised in Georgia. ..and I repeat "Could that state get any dumber?"

[LiberalFighter]

78. Wait an hour...

they might find a way.