An Ohio judge refused to conduct a same-sex marriage in his court this week, the latest instance of local officials refusing marriages on religious grounds in the weeks after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.
Toledo Municipal Judge Allen McConnell, who was in the midst of a three-week stint performing civil ceremonies, refused to marry Carolyn Wilson and her partner on Monday.
“I declined to marry a non-traditional couple during my duties assignment,” McConnell said in a statement. “The declination was based upon my personal and Christian beliefs established over many years. I apologize to the couple for the delay they experienced and wish them the best.”
The judge also said he’s asked the Ohio Supreme Court whether he can opt out of the rotation to avoid violating his religious beliefs.
A court administrator told Reuters that Wilson and her partner’s wedding was the first same-sex ceremony the court had been asked to perform. The couple was married by another judge after McConnell refused.
An Alabama judge had stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether after the Supreme Court ruling. A number of clerks in Kentucky have also refused to grant licenses to gay couples, citing religious belief in “traditional” marriages.
Just resign. Thanks!
Then resign and find a new job.
This is bigger than a clerk. This judge will presumably hear cases involving gays, and now gays would have to be concerned that he’ll rule against them out of sheer bias. It’s not reasonable to expect the court system to carefully steer such cases away from him and give him just the cases involving people he likes. He has no business on the bench.
I’m sorry, are you a pastor? Did this take place in a church? Was it a religious ceremony?
If the answer to these questions is “No” (and it is), then you don’t get to claim your religious beliefs are being compromised. This is a civil service. Either serve the public, or GTFO.
“The declination was based upon my personal and Christian beliefs established over many years.¨
Poor Christ. It’s astounding how many acts of assholery are committed in his name.