Oklahoma House OKs bill for ministers to refuse gay marriage

Oklahoma City (AP) — The Oklahoma House has approved legislation (HB 1007) that grants immunity from civil liability to ministers who refuse to officiate a same-sex marriage.

House members voted 88-7 Thursday for the bill by Republican Rep. David Brumbaugh. The measure now goes to the state Senate.

The bill grants licensed ministers in the state immunity from any civil claim based on their refusal to recognize a marriage that violates the minister's "conscience or religious beliefs."

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

Brumbaugh says pastors in his district requested the bill after a federal court last year struck down Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage in the state.

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The Gayly – February 12, 2015 @ 10:50am.