Jim Rosica
The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature has passed a bill that would legally shield clergy members who refuse to perform gay marriages.
The House bill (HB 43) was OK’d Thursday by the Senate on a 23-15 vote, despite Democrats saying the measure isn’t needed because clergy already are protected by the First Amendment.
It next needs to be signed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott to become law.
State Sen. Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, tried but failed to amend the bill to define “religious organization” as “any not-for-profit entity organized for a religious purpose.”
The intent was to make sure organizations loosely tied to a religion couldn’t use the law to discriminate against same-sex couples.
Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner of Tampa said she was concerned that some could use the law to cover themselves after refusals to, say, marry a mixed-race couple because it violates their religious beliefs.
“The fear is that it opens the door to unintended consequences,” she said. “I’m afraid it might turn the clock back.”
House sponsor Scott Plakon, a Longwood Republican, has said he began drafting the bill even before the U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognizes the validity of same-sex marriages came out this past June. The bulk of the bill was copied from a similar Texas law, he said.
As it worked through the committee process, many ministers from older mainline religions opposed the bill while even more from smaller evangelical churches were strongly in support.
Moreover, Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy group, at first called the bill “needlessly divisive,” saying there are no known cases in which clergy have been sued or criminally charged for refusing to marry gay couples. The organization now says it’s neutral on the measure.
But Aaron Bean, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said ministers across the state are “worried about their religious freedom … Let’s send them a message and stand with them.”
He added: “I never thought this would be a hot topic” and hoped the law would never have to be used or tested.
