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Religious groups looking to GOP to fight Supreme Court’s marriage decision
Organizations that have opposed marriage equality are now turning to the Republican Party to continue the battle.
While the Supreme Court made marriage legal in the entire country, groups like the Family Research Council, Heritage Foundation, and National Organization for Marriage are pushing for passage of the First Amendment Defense Act.
Utah Senator Mike Lee introduced the measure (S.1598) last month, before the Supreme Court’s marriage decision.
Idaho Representative Raul Labrador is sponsoring a similar bill (H.R. 2802) in the House of Representatives.
The proposal, essentially a freedom of religion measure, would would prevent federal agencies from blocking tax-exempt status to individuals, or businesses, who see marriage as the union between a man and woman.
According to The Hill, the legislation has the support of Senators Ted Cruz Marco Rubio, and Lindsey Graham, all in the hunt for GOP 2016 presidential nomination.
‘The freedom to live and to act in accordance with the dictates of one’s conscience and religious convictions is integral to human flourishing, serving as the foundation upon which America has produced the most diverse, tolerant and stable society the world has ever known,’ Lee said in a statement when he released the bill.
According to The Hill, the legislation presently has 63 co-sponsors in the House and 21 in the Senate.
The anti-marriage equality groups plan to press for the bill’s passage after the 4 July recess.
‘It doesn’t change the definition of marriage,’ said David Christensen, vice president of government affairs at the Family Research Council, said to The Hill.
‘It simply protects those who believe marriage is between a man and a woman,’ Christensen added.
‘There is a clear case to be made that the government is going after Christians,’ Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, said to The Hill.
‘The issue is really about whether we have a right to live out our faith in public,’ she continued.
The post Religious groups looking to GOP to fight Supreme Court’s marriage decision appeared first on Gay Star News.
James Withers
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