House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, wants state lawmakers next year to adopt a "pastor's protection act" to ensure no church leader can be forced to perform a same-sex wedding.
Ralston informed his fellow House Republicans of the plan at a caucus meeting Saturday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned, and said he would advocate for the plan when lawmakers return to session in January.
While conservatives in the General Assembly will likely embrace the measure, it is unlikely to quell calls for a broader “religious liberty” bill still pending in the state House.
“While the speaker believes that the recent Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (that legalized same-sex marriage) should have been left to elected legislators, that opinion is now the law of the land and, as the governor and attorney general have said, will be followed in Georgia,” Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen said.
The policy, he said, would be “narrowly crafted to ensure that pastors, priests and other members of the clergy will never be required by government to perform any marriage not keeping with their religious doctrine.”
McMichen said the current working version of the bill says:
“No minister of the gospel or cleric or religious practitioner ordained or authorized to solemnize marriages according to the usages of the denomination, when acting in his or her official religious capacity, shall be required to solemnize any marriage in violation of his or her right to free exercise of religion.”
University of Georgia constitutional scholar Anthony Michael Kreis said the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution already provides those protections.
Kreis said every marriage equality bill enacted by state legislatures has similar language.
“In truth, it does nothing more than what the First Amendment already requires,” he said. “So it was more to make a point than to give new protections.”
Kreis, who has advocated for marriage equality, said he would “happily go to bat for this kind of language.”
But, he said, he doubts Ralston's proposal will satisfy those who have pushed for a bill called the "religious freedom restoration act." That bill, sponsored by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, passed the Senate this year and is sitting in a House committee.
“This would not get to the heart of what (McKoon and his) supporters want, which is to allow for-profit actors to refuse service in ordinary commercial transactions,” Kreis said.
McKoon's bill, Senate Bill 129, has been at the center of some of the fiercest debates at the Capitol since 2014, when supporters first tried to get a "religious liberty" bill passed in Georgia.
Supporters cast it as a new line of defense to protect people of any religion from government interference. Opponents say it’s a discriminatory end run on the First Amendment that could allow business owners to cite religious beliefs to deny people service.
McKoon said he welcomed Ralston’s measure and disagreed with Kreis that it’s not needed.
“As I predicted the day of the Supreme Court decision, it appears we will have at least one new legislative proposal on religious freedom,” McKoon said. “I am delighted that Speaker Ralston has recognized that the First Amendment cannot be relied upon alone to protect people of faith in the current legal environment.”
But McKoon also urged Ralston to allow the House an up-or-down vote on SB 129.
“I look forward to working with all of my colleagues in the months ahead to insure that all people of faith, including business owners, associations and individuals in our state can be assured their right of conscience will not be diminished in any way,” he said.
About the Author
