City Says Ministers Don’t Have to Wed Same-Sex Couples, but Here’s Why It’s Not Over Yet

An Idaho town is not going to force a Christian ministry couple who own a wedding chapel to perform same-sex marriages there, the town’s chief attorney told The Daily Signal.

A lawsuit filed against the town by the ordained ministers to protect themselves from prosecution was based on “a misperception,” City Attorney Michael C. Gridley said, and he had no intentions of “threatening” and “imprisoning” them.

With these conciliatory words, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, backed off enforcing its nondiscrimination ordinance against the ministers, Donald and Evelyn Knapp. The move would have subjected the couple to thousands of dollars in fines and up to six months behind bars for declining to perform gay and lesbian wedding ceremonies at their Hitching Post Lakeside Wedding Chapel.

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Stay lifted on adoptions by same-sex parents in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court lifted a stay Thursday on same-sex adoptions in the state, which had halted the issuance of birth certificates for same-sex parents.

With the stay lifted, the Utah Health Department is prepared to issue birth certificates to children of same-sex couples, a health department spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

The Utah Attorney General's Office filed a petition for the stay in May after three Utah judges — Elizabeth Hruby-Mills, L.A. Dever and Andrew Stone — approved adoptions among same-sex couples who were married in Utah during a brief time it was legal after U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby overturned Utah's Amendment 3 that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.

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Utahns support bill stating clergy don't have to perform same-sex marriages, poll shows

Dennis Romboy

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns overwhelmingly support legislation clarifying that clergy don't have to perform weddings for gay and lesbian couples, a new poll shows.

Specifically, UtahPolicy.com asked, "Several legislators say they will 

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns overwhelmingly support legislation clarifying that clergy don't have to perform weddings for gay and lesbian couples, a new poll shows.

Specifically, UtahPolicy.com asked, "Several legislators say they will introduce bills to make it even more clear that clergy don't have to perform same-sex marriages or conduct or condone same-sex marriage associations. Do you support or oppose such a bill?"

The survey found 64 percent of residents strongly favor such measures, while 16 percent somewhat favor them. It also showed 6 percent would strongly oppose the legislation, and 7 percent would somewhat oppose it.

Dan Jones & Associates polled 405 registered voters Oct. 14-16. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.

Rep. Jacob Anderegg, R-Lehi, is among the Utah lawmakers who intend to introduce "religious freedom" legislation when the Legislature meets in January.

Leaders of the Republican-controlled House and Senate put the brakes on those kinds of bills in the 2014 session, citing Utah's appeal of a federal court ruling that overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

After the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month let stand lower court rulings allowing gays and lesbians to marry, state legislators said it's time move the legislation forward.

Would you support legislation clarifying that clergy don't have to perform weddings for gay and lesbian couples?

1.  Yes

2.  Maybe

3.  No

4.  Undecided

"I do want it very expressly known that this isn't meant to say we hate what the law is. It's just that the First Amendment needs to be upheld," Anderegg said in interview earlier this month.

Anderegg is proposing a law and a resolution for an amendment to the Utah Constitution that would exempt not only clergy but state and local government officials and judges from having to solemnize marriages that go against their religious beliefs.

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IN ELEGANT RULING, FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE IN PUERTO RICO

A federal judge has upheld Puerto Rico's traditional marriage law, bucking the recent trend of federal courts to strike down state laws enshrining traditional marriage. District judge Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, a Carter appointee, delivered a ruling that relied on a conservative reading of the Constitution and legal precedent, and created the potential for a split among the U.S. circuits that could prod the Supreme Court to take up the question in future.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court declined to take up the issue of the constitutionality of gay marriage, despite requests from both sides of the issue that it do so. One reason that it is thought to have denied review is that there is not yet a split among the U.S. Courts of Appeals, which have thus far agreed to strike down state traditional marriage laws. If the First Circuit upholds the Puerto Rico ruling, a split would suddenly emerge.

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