Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2008 / 23:38 pm
As the legal status of California’s Proposition 8 remains uncertain, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has released a study examining the problems legal same-sex marriage poses for religious freedom. The Washington D.C.-based advocacy group reports that the legal recognition of same-sex marriage could affect over 350 separate state anti-discrimination laws and could render objectors to same-sex marriage vulnerable to lawsuits under such laws.
“If same-sex marriage is recognized by courts or legislatures, people and institutions that have conscientious objections to facilitating same-sex marriage will likely be sued under existing anti-discrimination laws—laws never intended for that purpose,” the Becket Fund states in a press release announcing the study’s publication.
The study, titled “Same-Sex Marriage and State Anti-Discrimination Laws,” examined more than 1,000 state anti-discrimination laws with a focus upon those which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, or marital status.
All 50 states prohibit gender discrimination in some way, while only 37 states have explicit religious exemptions to these provisions. According to the Becket Fund, many of these exemptions are “quite narrow.”