GOP Lawmaker Defends Supporting 12-Year-Olds’ Right To Legally Marry

A Missouri state senator apparently wants to block gender-affirming care for transgender youth but is OK with 12-year-olds getting married.

Republican lawmaker Mike Moon is going viral for comments he made Tuesday while arguing for a bill he introduced to ban gender-affirming care for the state’s transgender teens.

When pressed by state Rep. Peter Meredith (D) about a different bill Moon voted against in the past, which would make it illegal for adults to marry children, the GOP lawmaker doubled down on his support for underage marriage.

“Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They’re still married,” Moon responded, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

Yes, we know. Pictures, or it didn’t happen.

Moon’s approval of child marriages isn’t new, according to the News-Leader.

In 2018, he opposed a passed law that raised the state’s marriage age from 15 to 16 and required older teenagers to get parental permission.

Moon used the same anecdote he cited on Tuesday but acknowledged that while the couple provided an extreme example, the married 12-year-old in his story was “something to ponder,” the paper said.

Not surprisingly, many Twitter users were skeeved out by Moon’s cheerleading for child marriage.

Moon hasn’t responded to media inquiries, but did respond to the last tweet with what he thought was context.