My DRitC Story:
Alex’s Surprise
Excerpt:
Alex zapped annoyed through the channels. He lounged on the couch, bored out of his mind. Sam, his best friend and roommate, had taken up the recliner, reading something. Maybe Alex should do that as well? Nothing caught his interest, no movie, no documentation, nothing.
He stopped for a moment at a news report showing a pregnant man. What was up with that?
The man’s stomach was swollen, showing he was at least five or six months along. His hands were cuffed in front of his baby bump and tears were streaming down his face. The camera showed a courtroom full of people, slowly sweeping over the interested men and women watching the process.
Alex turned up the volume, sitting up straighter. What had the man done? And why was he pregnant? He’d heard it was possible, but he’d never encountered someone who’d actually experienced that.
The anchor’s voice came up. “Robert B. was tried for violation of the racial laws. Today’s sentencing was long awaited. No one had heard of pregnant man for years, and there’d been uncertainty about the actual jurisdiction in such cases. B., who’s, according to doctors, six months along, was sentenced to five years in jail. His child will be put in an orphanage until he’s released. The biological father has no legal claim over the child. He will be able to visit his child, but he can’t get guardianship over the baby.
B. broke down after hearing the judge’s decision. Even through it’s forbidden, he clearly hoped the old laws would be overturned. Instead, the judge confirmed that breeding between the races is still forbidden and punishable. With that, back to the studio.”
The picture changed, showing now a woman in a suit, smiling in the camera. “Thanks to our reporter in Washington, D.C. for a summary of today’s events in court. Now to the weather…”
Alex turned down the volume, blending out the forecast. He turned to Sam, who had apparently put down his book to watch the news as well. “Have you heard that? How can they judge someone because he got pregnant?”
“I have no idea? Maybe because it’s wrong? Are these children dangerous? I’ve never met one, or heard of one, for that matter, but I guess there’s a reason it’s forbidden.”
Alex frowned. A new life was precious, not wrong. He couldn’t imagine a child being dangerous, even if it was mixed. Children born from mixed relationship were allowed, as long as one of the parents was female and the other male. Why this didn’t apply to children born form a same-sex relationship was beyond Alex.
This was the first case in a long time, according to the anchor, but he’d not given a reason why the laws were upheld.
“It’s still wrong in my eyes.”
Chris McHart 