A Press-Enterprise article from late July [linked below] sums it up:
David Cruz, a professor of law at USC, an expert on sexual-orientation law and president of the International Lesbian and Gay Law Association, said religious institutions might be required to allow their meeting rooms or halls to be used for same-sex weddings if the religious groups already rent their facilities to the public. There has never been a court ruling on the matter, so the law is unclear, he said.If a court does rule there is a requirement, it would be based upon long-standing state law that prohibits public-accommodations discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, not on the Supreme Court's marriage ruling, he said.
A religious group that does not rent out its facilities to the public would not be affected, (such as Mormon Church buildings), because the facilities would not be considered 'public accommodations,' he said.
The solution: Don't rent your church hall to the public.
Bottom line: To require any church to perform any civil marriage is unconstitutional! No church can be forced to perform any marriage. The Catholic church cannot be forced to perform a marriage for a non-Catholic couple if they do not want to. The same goes for every other bishop, pastor, or priest. They have the right to choose whom they marry. And if ALL LDS Bishops say no then I guess we don't have a problem then do we?
Hmmm... and all this from a PRO same-sex stand point. Hmmm... makes you think a bit about LDS Bishops being FORCED to do weddings doesn't it. Not to mention that fact that no gay/lesbian couple would want to go to a church where they were not wanted/welcome to get married.
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Good for you. People can rationalize this all they want, but it is a simple civil rights issue.
(I grabbed this off another blog)
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a civil rights organization founded by Dr. King himself.
And, guess what? The SCLC has taken a firm stance *against* Prop 8!
Rev. Eric Lee (of the SCLC):
“The Southern Christian Leadership Council is the only organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The entire core of SCLC is about fighting for justice for all people and against discrimination… As a result of that – this issue about marriage equality requires that we speak out against this proposition because anytime any group of people are denied the right afforded to another group of people, it is an issue of the violation of civil rights. And we need to be clear about that."
And, from USA Today...
Constitutional amendments should be used to expand freedom, not restrict it, Coretta Scott King said Tuesday.
"Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union," she said. "A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages."
One last thing. By "civil rights" I don't mean to equate it with racism, per-say, but make the point that whether you thing homosexuality is moral or not is not the issue. It is about treating people with dignity and respect even if they don't share your religious views.
My point exactly. Treating people with respect.
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