OK bill allows ministers to refuse gay marriages

Staff report

(Oklahoma City) A bill that would allow Oklahoma ministers to be immune from civil liability for refusing to officiate a same-sex marriage has cleared a House committee.

The bill (HB 1007) by Broken Arrow Republican Rep. David Brumbaugh passed the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday with a 7-2 vote. It now heads to the full House for consideration.

The bill states licensed ministers shall be immune from any civil claim based on their refusal to recognize any marriage that violates the minister's "conscience or religious beliefs."

In fact, the First Amendment of the US Constitution protects ministers from performing any marriage they object to. Don Holladay, the lead attorney on Oklahoma’s gay marriage case, said, “A church can establish any rules it wants for marriages in their churches and by their ministers. They can exclude people of different colors, or couples of the same-sex, or people who have been divorced if they want to.”

Brumbaugh said that ‘some ministers’ fear that if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages, their church could lose it’s non-profit tax exemption. Holladay responded, “If they are worried about that, they can sleep well tonight, because it won’t happen.”

The measure is one of several that has been targeted by gay rights groups as discriminatory against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Portions of this story were provided by the Associated Press. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Gayly – February 5, 2015 @ 12:25pm.