By John Mack Freeman
A trio of bills have been introduced by Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives to make it significantly more difficult for same-sex couples to become married. Via PinkNews:
Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat, who sit in the Michigan House of Representatives, have filed House Bill 4732 – which would make it illegal for anyone who is not a “minister of the Gospel, cleric, or religious practitioner” to perform weddings.
Incredibly, despite the supposed separation of church and state in the US, EclectaBlog points out that pair want to devolve the issue of marriage entirely to churches, presumably so they can then hide behind ‘religious freedom’ laws to avoid marrying gays.
The bill states: “Marriages may only be solemnized by… a minister of the gospel, cleric or religious practitioner, anywhere in this state, if the minister of the gospel, cleric, or religious practitioner is ordained or authorised to solemnise marriages according to the usages of the denomination.”
A second bill, from the pair, House Bill 4733, would restrict the issuing of marriage licenses to clergy also – while a third bill, House Bill 4731, would ban marriages in secret.
The bills will probably never become law and would probably be struck down as unconstitutional were they ever signed in law.
