As the story of North Carolina continues, we discover that the Legislature’s Republicans have overridden the Republican governor’s veto and passed legislation that … well, the local ABC affiliate, ABC11, has the facts:
A measure allowing some court officials to refuse to perform gay marriage responsibilities because of their religious beliefs became law in North Carolina on Thursday, with the state House voting to override the governor’s veto of the bill. …
The law, taking effect immediately, means some register of deeds workers who assemble licenses and magistrates to solemnize civil marriages can decide to stop performing all marriages if they hold a “sincerely held religious objection.”
Most of the Democrats and the Governor have expressed their disappointment. Steve Benen @ MaddowBlog points out the vagueness of the new law:
The goal, not surprisingly, is to stand in the way of same-sex couples who want to wed, but the measure doesn’t specify that, which raises the prospect of some pretty broad problems. If a county magistrate has a religious objection to an interracial couple getting married, he or she can refuse.The same is true if the local official objects to a couple from different religious backgrounds. If the local official objects to marrying someone who’s been previously divorced, the same thing.
I am a church-going Christian. My faith has never taught me to turn people away because of who they love, and I never believed that my God would have any problem with me marrying a wonderful man like Thomas.
But even if my faith were different, if I worked for the government, I would know that I have to treat all members of the public equally, regardless of my religious views. Government employees aren’t working a religious job; they take an oath to serve all the public, and they’re supposed to be impartial.
This year, when I learned that legislators in Raleigh were pushing a law that would allow magistrates to refuse to marry couples on religious grounds, I felt the pain of that day all over again. Senate Bill 2 would give magistrates the ability to discriminate against couples exactly the same way they discriminated against Thomas and me almost 40 years ago. Gov. Pat McCrory vetoed the bill after it was passed by the legislature, but the Senate has already overridden his veto, and the House could do the same.
Thomas and I eventually did get married, and a court later ruled that those two magistrates violated the law when they refused to marry us, but the pain from that day – when government officials used their own religious beliefs to discriminate against us and keep Thomas and I from marrying each other – will never leave us.
It’s a beautifully written letter that should bring shame to any magistrate who thinks they can impose their religious beliefs over the laws of this land.
