Virginia Republicans vow to protect religious rights after gay marriage ruling

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Va. Republicans vow to protect religious rights after gay marriage ruling

Virginia Politics
By Jenna Portnoy July 7
@jennaportnoy

RICHMOND — Six months ahead of the next session of the Virginia General Assembly, Republican lawmakers say they are already looking for ways to protect religious freedom after a Supreme Court ruling affirming gay couples’ right to marry in all 50 states.

GOP leaders said they would not resist the court’s ruling, but they promised to take steps that show they are listening to the commonwealth’s most loyal Republicans — voters that Republicans are counting on in low-turnout elections for the state House and Senate in November. ... What’s less clear is whether such tactics will harm the GOP’s chances with a general electorate in which acceptance of same-sex marriage — and disapproval of allowing businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians — is growing. In Virginia, a key presidential battleground next year, Democrats are likely to seize on Republican initiatives that could be used to cast the GOP as out of step with the majority.

Republicans have not specified what proposals they plan to offer, but House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) has asked Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), deputy majority leader and a former prosecutor, to review what other states have done before they decide what action to take in Virginia.

The state already has a law that seeks to protect an individual’s freedom of religion from government intrusion. The law is slightly different from a proposal in Indiana that critics said was designed to give private companies legal cover to discriminate against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and ­transgender community. ... One option might be a “conscience clause” bill like those filed last year by Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William). One such proposal last year would have allowed anyone who is professionally licensed by the state, such as a teacher or a counselor, to refuse to serve same-sex couples if he or she has moral or religious objections.

[Faux pas]

1. Humans

were here before religion, shouldn't Humans ALWAYS come before religion? MHO anyway.

[Warpy]

2. What these oafs don't realize is that their rights are already protected

The wall between church and state already says their churches can't be forced to perform weddings they find repugnant, whether gay or interracial or of divorcees.

They already have the right to live and think and choose their own churches.

What they don't have the right to do is bully anyone else who might think differently.

And that's what drives them nuts. They're bullies. They want to bully everybody they can.