In those days, the world was divided on the subject of interspecies sexual relations aka bestiality. It was entirely legal in Russia and the three nations that made up Japan. It was also legal in subdivisions of particular nations such as Argentina, Chile, most of Mexico, Cuba, New Mexico, Wyoming, West Virginia, the Congo aka Wakanda, Romania, Iceland, Cambodia, and the Philippines. A great many other subdivisions had no laws on the subject. In the three nations such as Germany, one only paid a fine if it was involuntary for the animal and legal if it was voluntary. Bestiality was explicitly banned in Canada, most of the American nations, Brazil, Western Europe, Turkey, India, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Australia. China was unclear.
The issue became a big deal in the "Loving" case. One day in rural Virginia, the police raided a house and found Dick Loving, a human, in bed with M'red, a Martian. They also saw a marriage certificate proudly displayed on the wall. "Look what we got here. We just hit the jackpot," the cops said pleased. They then tore the place up looking for "evidence." The two then were sent to jail.
To avoid controversy and divide the couple, Dick was released early while M'red was made to stay in jail a little longer. The couple had married legally in West Virginia and had gone back to reside in Virginia. After being released, Dick and M'red consulted with their defense attorney. "So, I, here, talked with the judge and we, here, worked out a deal that seems mighty fair. If you plead guilty, the judge will suspend all prison time."
"Sure," Dick agreed.
"As a condition, if you wish to stay married, you must leave the state for twenty-five years and never come back as a couple or even as single individuals. Basically, the state is disgusted at both of you and hates you," the defense attorney informed them.
At the courthouse, the clerk quoted the charges. "That Dick Loving, being a human, and M'red, being a Martian, did unlawfully enter the state of West Virginia to engage in bestial sexual activity in the following sexual positions...," the clerk began and then read out each and every single position. "...and afterward did return to the state of Virginia cohabitating as man and wife greatly offending the dignity and peace of the commonwealth."
"How do you plead?" the judge asked bored.
"Guilty," Dick and M'red both said.
The judge laid out the deal as before which Dick and M'red accepted.
Frustrated with being isolated from friends and family and forced to live in West Virginia, of all places, M'red sent an email to Alex, thinking her time with J'onn, M'gann, and other Martians would get her some sympathy. Alex and Kelly immediately got involved in the case and requested the court in Virginia to vacate the criminal judgments and set aside the Loving's sentences.
"The state of Virginia prohibits bestiality per Leviticus chapter 18, Leviticus chapter 20, and Deuteronomy chapter 27 in the Holy Bible and considers interspecies sex and marriage to be a grave threat to the continued existence of the human species. Such was the case when fallen angels had sex with human females producing giants that took over the world and threatened mankind in the story of Enoch. Furthermore, the state of Virginia has a rational basis for prohibiting such relations and marriages upon examining the historical record whereby one civilization conquers and eradicates a lesser civilization into oblivion by, but not limited to, interbreeding. Therefore, there is no constitutional reason to vacate the criminal judgment and sentences of Dick Loving and M'red," Kelly said as she read the judge's refusal.
Kelly then turned to Dick and M'red. "I know this sounds queer, but this is actually a good thing. This gives a roadmap all the way to the World Supreme Court," Kelly said optimistically.
"I'm confused. How is this good?" M'red asked.
"Now that he's refused, we can appeal to the state and if the state rules against you, we can go to the Supreme Court of Carolina, and if they rule against you, we can go to the World Supreme Court," Alex said.
"Now, if we get some photos of you, two, we can raise your case profile in the media but only if you're comfortable," Kelly said gently.
"Fine," Dick shrugged.
Dick and M'red were featured on Daily Planet articles. The public was outraged on both sides. Kara sat down with Alex and Kelly over the matter. "Let me say, I have lots of alien friends, lots of black friends. I am the least...," Kara began.
"Shove it, Kara. I saw how unprofessional you were when it came to killing and jailing aliens," Alex interrupted.
"How can I be racist against aliens when I am an alien?" Kara asked incredulously.
"You're a Kryptonian supremacist," Alex said obviously.
"A supremacist is one who falsely believes them to be superior. Kryptonians are, in fact, the superior race," Kara said arrogantly. "Look, this issue should be decided by the states, not the courts. I'm all about state's rights and local democracy."
"You're so full of shit, Kara. Whenever a state tried to regulate social media, a church, a KKK march, or guns, you're whole 'state's rights' bullshit goes out the window," Alex said accusingly.
"Perhaps we should discuss the Lovings, themselves, their lives, their love for each other, their...," Kelly brought up.
"Dick looks and sounds like a retard. Are you aware your client is retarded and likely being taken advantage of?" Kara asked rudely.
"He's not retarded, he's just soft-spoken and introverted," Alex said defensively.
"Also...ugly as fuck," Kara brought up.
"Wow...," Kelly said and then reassessed what she was dealing with. "Obviously, aliens are not animals, and the bestiality laws shouldn't apply. That would mean you committed bestiality with humans, with my brother."
"He was a beast in the sack," Kara recalled fondly and then snapped out of her daydream. "Okay, sure, alien sex shouldn't be a crime. That's a long way from arguing marriage."
"The equal protection of the law clause clearly should give...equal protection of the law to humans and aliens residing on Earth. And, the due process clause prevents arbitrary nonsensical laws that only serve to discriminate and divide us," Kelly said passionately.
"Mon was fucking right. I should not have proposed the 14th Amendment," Kara muttered. "It's clear equal protection and due process only pertained to slavery and nothing else when it was first ratified. You, liberals, use it to promote every deviancy on your side of the spectrum."
"Incest and polygamy are clearly deviancies on your side of the spectrum," Alex said insultingly.
"Alright, I'm not going to get in your way. I'm actually curious how this ends up. But I'm warning you now, it will not end the way you think it will," Kara warned.
Richmond, Virginia
The Virginia State Supreme Court rejected the appeal. "We rule in favor of the criminalization of interspecies marriage because both the human and alien spouse were punished...equally. However, we do find the Loving's sentences to be vague as fuck and that they be resentenced to actual jail. In fact, we find that the Loving's sentence was so lenient, it violated the equal protection of the law against all those dumb bastards who had been sentenced for the same crime with heavier sentences."
After the ruling, Dick and M'red were eager to get the fuck out of Virginia before they could be arrested again. The Daily Planet reporters stopped them as they were trying to take off. "How do you feel about the ruling?" they asked.
"I'm still hopeful. We're hopeful," M'red said brightly.
"Where will you go now?" they asked.
"To West Virginia where bestiality is legal," M'red replied.
"Fair enough, Mr. Loving, do you have anything to say about what happened in court today?" they asked.
"Nope," Dick shook his head.
Alex and Kelly intercepted Dick and M'red on the street. "If anyone fucks with you on your way back to West Virginia, let us know. We'll bail you out," Alex said seriously.
"Sure," Dick nodded.
"You did a good job in court today," Kelly praised.
"I appreciate your help," Dick said and then the two took off.
Alex and Kelly appealed to the World Supreme Court which was immediately accepted. The World Supreme Court, composed of seven judges from each continent reviewed previous case law since Kara's regime took over the planet in 3017. The Arizona Supreme Court had made a determination that a human/alien divorce wasn't necessary since they were not legally married, to begin with. The California Supreme Court ruled that human/alien interspecies marriage bans were unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court of East Africa based in South Africa ruled in favor of the interspecies marriage ban. Bans were also present in Australia, China, India, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. The world quickly took notice of the issue. Many nations interpreted their bestiality laws to pertain to interspecies sex. In Arabia and Central Asia, the sentence was the death penalty. It was life exile in India and temporary exile in Canada, most of America, Brazil, Western Europe, Scandinavia, and scattered areas of Africa, Korea, and Australia. It was demotion and extra duty in Germany. In South Africa, it was determined by the whims of a judge which, in most cases, meant the defendant was fucked. The practice was entirely legal in most districts of Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Congo, the Balkans, Russia, Japan, and the Philippines.
The World Senate was composed of 8 factions from ultra-conservative to centrists-to-ultra progressives. The World Senate was elected by proportional representation. Supposedly, Kara wanted the best democratic system. In reality, she knew multiple factions would lead to strong infighting which would only increase her power as monarch. Governments always required party coalitions which quickly fell apart, votes of no-confidence were often, and elections were frequent as Kara intended. The Traditional Front comprised Russia, Arabia, and China, and the National Popular Front comprised ASEAN, Central Asia, and East Africa. The Homelanders were simply the Turks. The People's Party were composed of Indonesia, India, Mongolia, and Mexico. The Conservatives were composed of Spain-West Africa, Brazil, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, and the Carolinas. The Radical Centrists were from Eastern Europe, South America, and Midwest America. Liberals were composed of the three nations of Japan, Italy, England, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and West Canada. The Progressives were the largest group with Australia, Scandinavia, the three nations of Germany, the two nations of France, the United Kingdom, Quebec-New England, New York, and California. On this particular issue, bestiality did not fall under predictable conservative-liberal politics.
Rome
Pope Barney was asked by the faithful to resolve the question of interspecies sex and marriage. "Bestiality is clearly condemned as a natural law in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Case closed," Cardinal Marcus said.
"My brother in Christ, sentient aliens are not beasts," Cardinal Lucio replied. "Rather, this should be condemned in the Genesis story that references Enoch where evil angels had relations with women and gave birth to giants."
"Sentient aliens are not angels," Cardinal Matthias pointed out. "We should follow the Galatians 3:28 clause where we are all equal under Christ."
"Under your interpretation of equality, the Galatians 3:28 clause would legalize homosexual marriage or marriage between master and slave," Cardinal Marcus argued.
"If not for it being already prohibited elsewhere," Cardinal Matthias reminded him.
"The following conditions must be met for interspecies marriage to be valid. It must be between one male and one female of proper age, it must be intelligently freely chosen by both parties without fraud or deception, it must be possible to be consummated, and it must be open to the possibility of reproduction. For it to be sacramental, both must be Christian," Pope Barney ruled.
"Yes, Your Holiness!" the Cardinals exclaimed.
"Then...what God brings together, let no man separate," Pope Barney concluded.
West Virginia
The Vatican's guidance on the subject ran afoul of equal protection as it discriminated against aliens that were not reproductively compatible with humans or couldn't even consummate with them in the normal way. Secular governments were also weary of using religious reasoning for their laws. Most political observers believed the Vatican was hedging on the issue by superficially appearing to support interspecies marriage while making it nearly impossible in practice. The Vatican had already given a Papal Dispensation for Kara and Mon's marriage so there was some precedence. The Royal Family was in an awkward position as an interspecies married couple. Furthermore, Kara's cousin, Kal-El, had entered into an interspecies marriage a thousand years ago and he had been promoted as a hero. Other Justice League members had been known to engage in alien/hybrid sex such as Jon Stewart and Hawkgirl, Hal Jordan and Arisia, Batman and Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Mera, and many more. It also didn't help that Kara already admitted to a romance with Lex Luthor and James Olsen.
Alex and Kelly went to visit Dick and M'red in the desolate wastelands of West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains. "Good news, the Supreme Court has decided to hear your case. Of course, Virginia will have their defense, but we're very confident about our chances here," Kelly said brightly.
"A miracle," M'red said pleased.
"What's their defense?" Dick asked confused.
"Virginia will argue that they have a rational basis review as a sovereign nation to control the alien population including any hybrid children you may have. They will say it's a matter of national security. They will say they have a right to control their demographic destiny. They will also say it's a matter of immigration policy since M'red is not a citizen," Kelly said delicately.
"The reason M'red isn't a citizen is because the government has made it harder for her to be a citizen," Dick said peeved. "She has to live on Earth for several more years to even apply. This is bullshit."
"You are, of course, invited to hear the World Supreme Court arguments," Alex brought up.
"Nope," Dick said and walked outside.
"M'red?" Kelly offered.
"I won't go without him," M'red shook her head.
Kelly went outside to talk with Dick going into shrink mode. "Is there anything you want the World Supreme Court to know from you?"
"Yeah, tell them...I love my wife," he said simply.
Metropolis
Galactic Federation planets began tightening their own interspecies sex and marriage laws even as they declared Earth to be xenophobic racist hicks. Within the Galactic Federation, some planets were nearly entirely homogenous such as Titan and Winath. Other planets were a mixture of countless alien races. Some alien races were so small in number that if not for interspecies marriage, they would die off from inbreeding. All of this political pressure was placed on the World Supreme Court as they considered arguments.
The World Supreme Court Justices were appointed by Kara and rubberstamp-confirmed by the World Senate. They were Smith (North America), Anderson (Europe), Wang (Asia), Garcia (South America), Ali (Africa), Kumar (Oceania), and Cobblepot (Antarctica).
After hearing the arguments, the World Supreme Court concluded: "In a unanimous decision, we hold that the state has a rational basis in which to ban bestiality. The animal cannot properly consent, and it is abusive treatment. It's also fucking weird," Supreme Court Justice Smith began.
A number of interested parties, notably mountaineering livestock sheepherders in uptight nations were outraged. "We also rule that two humans engaged in sexual activity but dressed as furies do not constitute bestiality, by legal definition, even if the costume is made of real fur," Smith continued. The Japanese delegation gave a sigh of relief.
"We also hold in a unanimous decision that sentient aliens do not constitute beasts and, therefore, bestiality criminal codes do not pertain to them in so far as they have sex with themselves or with humans. As stated elsewhere in our decision, historical alien probing of a sexual nature on cattle is not protected under the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment," Smith ruled.
Now, the World Supreme Court got to the bottom of marriage laws. "We hold that marriage is a fundamental right in so far as one has the freedom to express that they're married in speech and religious practice. We do declare all marriage laws at the federal and state level to be unconstitutional as it discriminates between married couples and single people. This court, therefore, abolishes all marriage laws between the married couple and the state. This does not prohibit the married couple from establishing legally binding contracts with themselves. Therefore, all fornication laws are to be retroactively interpreted as sexual relations outside these legally binding contracts. A prosecution for fornication requires at least two witnesses and evidence. Therefore, we declare that prosecuting a couple for merely declaring themselves married and living together in the same dwelling is a violation of due process," Smith concluded.
Immediately, interspecies sex laws that were categorized as bestiality and all marriage laws fell across the world. For the Lovings, they were safe.
After the ruling, Brainiac 5 used the State Department to immediately revoke all visas for resident aliens legally married to humans in any jurisdiction resulting in deportations. He also controlled the economy which was outside the jurisdiction of the World Supreme Court. This included housing. Brainiac 5 could treat a couple as a couple or as individuals on a whim. In this case, he treated human-alien married couples as individuals forcing them to either live in cramped dwellings or live separately. He also terminated their jobs sending them to E-1 pay grade, the minimum quota. Many of these couples fled to the free autonomous zones or left the planet altogether.
Alex and Kelly immediately sued on behalf of the Lovings to the World Supreme Court. "The Fifth Amendment's liberty clause pertains only to Earth citizens and not foreigners. Even if a citizen has the fundamental right to marriage in so far as they may speak it or religious practice it, they do not have the right to bring their non-citizen spouse to this planet," Chief Justice Smith ruled.
Alex then went to Brainiac 5 to chew him out, personally, at the State Department in Metropolis. "Fuck you, Barney. M'red is facing deportation back to Mars and Dick is now unemployed," Alex raged.
"I am aware," Brainiac 5 said obviously.
"Why?" Alex demanded.
Brainiac 5 condescendingly pulled up a map of the old Soviet Union with demographic pie charts and statistics. "In 1989, Russians made up only half of the Soviet population and a small minority in all of the other fourteen Soviet Republics. The Soviet Union disintegrated not just due to an economic recession and political instability but ethnic division. The situation was similar to Yugoslavia which also broke up into smaller countries. There is a strong correlation between ethnic diversity and state instability. Today, that ethnic diversity is humans and aliens."
"Diversity is a strength," Alex disagreed.
"Your naivety amuses me," Brainiac 5 smirked.
"This is cruel. Are you doing this to spite us?" Alex asked.
"Not at all. I have given you the freedom to indulge your liberal nature. The same nature that destroyed yourselves with plummeting fertility, unsustainable debt, social instability, and the collapse of nation-states. Just don't expect your indulging to become policy," Brainiac 5 shut down. "I have been tasked with preserving the human race while balancing the needs of the galaxy. I will expose humanity to the richness of the galaxy, but I will not permit its extinction. I will not allow history to repeat itself with war, interbreeding, and plagues that have permanently wiped civilizations off the map."
"What if we put all the aliens on one continent like...Australia?" Alex suggested.
"They always attempt to escape, and it requires heavy-handed tactics to bring them back," Brainiac 5 said dismissively. "I also fail to see the point. You want to virtue signal your inclusiveness of these aliens while not having to deal with their negative consequences."
"I'm looking for a middle ground that is moral, decent, and not racist as fuck," Alex said frustrated.
"The reason I am tasked with these duties is so humanity can remain moral, decent, and not racist as fuck. I make the hard decisions humans don't have to. The sins of the Earth all fall on me. I'm the one who deports aliens and their families, executes criminals, and rations healthcare from the dying to those who can be saved so that humanity doesn't have to make those choices. All of the mortal sins of human civilization fall upon me," Brainiac 5 said.
"Then, it's a mortal sin not to fight you," Alex said defiantly.
"Perhaps and you may fight me to your heart's content, and you will lose," Brainiac 5 replied.
"I don't believe in your bullshit. You deported all those aliens to fuck with Kelly and I," Alex doubted.
"In truth...it's both," Brainiac 5 nodded.
"Now, you're just saying that to see how we will fight you," Alex assumed.
"Chess is boring when no one makes a move," Brainiac 5 admitted. "Just remember that with every move you make, there is a risk a pawn of yours will be eliminated from the board."
After the World Supreme Court decisions, Kara made a speech to the world with Brainiac 5 at her side. "For thousands of years, humanity has fought over the definition and nature of marriage. On the right side of the spectrum, you had polygamy and incest. In the center of the spectrum, you had people divorcing and remarrying so many times and creating multiple families that it might as well be polygamy. On the left side of the spectrum, you had queer marriages and people wanting to marry their pets, their software simulations, their sex dolls. In all of this, everyone wanted recognition from the state to respect and affirm their relationship. That ends now. Everyone is free to enter contracts with one another and call it whatever the hell they want. The only reason for the state to intervene is if a mediator is necessary to enforce terms and conditions."
Kara then turned to Brainiac 5. "I have every trust in Lord Dox to manage the proper level of alien immigration and visa residents to this planet. As the State Department is under the executive branch, I take responsibility for all of Lord Dox's decisions, and I am very pleased with his work."
To Alex's dismay, Kara's approval rating was given a boost. Approval ratings for Alex and Kelly were not released to the public but were abysmal. Alex and Kelly were critiqued for their queer relationship, the circumstances behind their pregnancy, and support for alien rights. Nonetheless, Alex came to the Palace to chew Kara out.
"How can you be okay with this? You came to Earth illegally, remember? I don't recall you asking for a visa to come to Earth when you crash-landed. You should have been deported," Alex raged.
"Deported to where? Space?" Kara wondered. "Look, I made a deal with Barney. In return for the Lovings remaining on Earth and not making a fuss, I gave him my full support."
"Really, wow. Why didn't Barney ask for my support?" Alex asked taken aback.
"Because your support means shit right now," Kara said obviously. "When you play the game, you get concessions here and there. It's called leverage. You should try it sometimes instead of just picking fights and mouthing off."
"It's called honor and integrity," Alex shot back.
"You want honor and integrity or results?" Kara asked rhetorically.
"I shouldn't have to choose in your perfect world," Alex said frustrated.
"Barney wants to keep the alien population below five percent including hybrids. If you want more aliens on Earth, boost the human population," Kara said simply. "We must plan for what happens over generations. Mara who is likely to succeed me doesn't give a fuck about humans. So long as every resident on this planet is Christian, she'd be fine with humans going extinct. The rest of the galaxy doesn't give a fuck if humans go extinct. You have no idea how juicy Earth is as real estate. We have the best oceans, topography, and atmosphere of any other planet in the galaxy. So, work with me here."
Alex frowned uncertainly. "We lived in a time when overpopulation was a serious issue. Underpopulation is going to be hard to get used to."
"Just let Barney do his thing. There isn't anything we can really do about it," Kara shrugged. "Now, your approval rating sucks so let's get you two out of the spotlight for now. Do some fieldwork. Solve a Scooby Doo mystery or something."
"Yeah, sure," Alex rolled her eyes.
Virginia
Alex and Kelly met up with the Lovings for a final goodbye at their farm. Even though countless other alien couples were now fucked, the Lovings were good. Dick was busy building a new house with his own hands. Due to Alex and Kelly's efforts, bestiality was quickly made a planetary issue and made illegal in all countries and sub-divisions. Alien-human relationships were now officially decriminalized.
Author's Notes: The concerns of Cadmus and later Agent Liberty were superficial and cliche in CW Supergirl. By having heroes all over the spectrum, I can irresponsibly address these sorts of issues. As we get closer to AI automation and a robot overlord making all policy decisions for us, we must wrestle with the morality of whether or not we are complicit with the evil decisions of our AI overlord. Do we have a moral responsibility to fight our AI overlord or do the sins of the AI fall on only the AI even if we benefit from them? And what if the cost of fighting our AI overlord is more than the honor and integrity we achieve by it?