Marriage as God
Intended
Team Member Name: Devin Fowles
Publication: Salt lake tribune
Date: 9-8-2015
Cartoonist: Pat Bagley, U.S.
Title of cartoon: Marriage as God Intended
Cartoon#: 13
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
What is the context?
The cartoon shows two different groups that are applying for a marriage license. One group appears to
be a polygamist group and the other gay marriage.
Kim Davis, a county clerk that was jailed because
she denied gays marriage licenses (Jack Jennings,
September 2015), is the clerk in the cartoon.
Kim is denying the gay couple a marriage license
while giving the polygamists a marriage license.
Bibliography:
Gay marriage has been widely debated for quite
some time now. From flags supporting gay marriage, to rallies, to violence even, this topic has been
discussed heatedly for quite some time now. Activists for and against this topic have been very busy.
This cartoon is a reference to the action that took
place in Rowan county, Kentucky (Jack Jennings,
Sept 2015), where a marriage clerk named Kim Davis refused to give a marriage license to several gay
couples, because of her religious beliefs. Several of
the couples sued Kim and Rowan county, saying that
Kim’s actions were against their constitutional rights
(Kim LaCapria, July 2015). Kim’s refusal landed
her in jail. Ironically, the people that are receiving
a marriage license from Kim is a polygamist group
and the male bares a striking resemblance to Warren
Jeffs, the male leader that had a lot of news about
him several years ago.
What are the symbols in the cartoon?
The marriage license itself is a symbol, representing
the legal ability to be married.
The Gay couple and the Polygamist group are also
symbolism of their respective groups. The cartoon
labels several different things as well, namely the
marriage license and the sign for marriage licenses.
Tone of the cartoon:
1) positive or negative framing of the issue
2) framing is supportive of or opposed to supporters
3) framing is supportive of or opposed to opponents
What “reality” is constructed/framed about
your issue?
The cartoon sheds a negative light on Kim, showing
that she is not only okay with handing out marriage
licenses to polygamist families, but also polygamist
families where the marriage is one sided, because
it’s in the bible, but not gay couples, even though
she’s been married four different times herself (Kim
LaCapria, July 2015).
Jennings, J. (2015, September 02). The Religious Beliefs Of Kim Davis, The Anti-Gay Clerk Who Refuses To Do Her Job,
Explained. Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/09/02/3698100/kim-davis-hypocritical-theology/
LaCapria, K. (2015, July 9). ‘I Do’ as I Say, Not as I Do. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.snopes.com/kim-davis-marri ed-four-times/
Bagley, Pat. “CagleCartoons.com - View Image.” CagleCartoons.com - View Image. 8 Sept. 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
29
30