Utah Rep. Pushing For Religious Exemption To Gay Marriage
Source: TPM
CAITLIN MACNEAL JANUARY 2, 2014, 11:22 AM EST
A Republican lawmaker in Utah introduced a state constitutional amendment in December that would exempt religious institutions from performing same-sex marriages even if the state is required to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, and he hopes that a court ruling against the state's same-sex marriage ban will help push his amendment through the legislature, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
"The truth is, the main reason I'm proposing this is that I just want people to relax," Rep. Jacob Anderegg (R) told the Tribune in an interview published Monday. "If they know they have their federal religious guarantees in writing, I hope they will just relax."
Anderegg said that while he has had the legislation drafted for about a year, he thinks that the timing for his constitutional amendment may be in his favor right now.
:::snip:::
Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/utah-same-sex-marriage-constitutional-amendment-religious-exemption
PSPS
(13,584 posts)Marriage, after all, is a secular contract. It isn't a religious rite.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)He knows that by introducing this amendment, lots of his brain-dead fundy sycophants will believe that someone MUST be forcing churches to marry same-sex couples, because otherwise, why would the amendment be needed??
Also left unanswered is the question of why any non-dysfunctional same-sex couple would want to get married in a church that thought they shouldn't be allowed to get married at all.
marble falls
(57,063 posts)KansDem
(28,498 posts)...to fight holy wars! No more trillion$ for the MIC!
So, America out of the mid-East...NOW!!! If the Holy Rollers want to fight Islam, they they can do it themselves without American taxes. So grab your Bibles and get your asses over there!
I'm sick of this shit!
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)are considered a type of private club, hence exempt from civil rights provision and equality provisions.
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)how government works.
yuiyoshida
(41,831 posts)I want in on easy money!
Bryce Butler
(338 posts)"Although the State did not directly present an argument based on religious freedom, the
court notes that its decision does not mandate any change for religious institutions, which may continue to express their own moral viewpoints and define their own traditions about marriage. If anything, the recognition of same-sex marriage expands religious freedom because some churches that have congregations in Utah desire to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies but are currently unable to do so."
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)broadcaster75201
(387 posts)You don't get much more Liberal than I, and I've had it with these TeaBagging, knuckle-dragging, bigots ... but he is doing this to get those same people to back off, even just a little. Read what he said. Will they, probably not, but it can't hurt.
To that extent, I like this move even though it is redundant.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)The way he worded his reasoning, that he just wants people to relax, makes me think that he's just tired of idiots calling him over this issue thinking they'll be forced to perform gay weddings.
weissmam
(905 posts)Duh!