An Arizona wedding planner last week refused to work with a same-sex couple once she realized that they were gay.
Kenyata White found Susan Latimer’s wedding planning business online and started working with Latimer to plan a December wedding. White referred to her fiancée Chrystal Allen just as her fiancée during the first stages of the planning process.
But when White mentioned her fiancée by name, Latimer, an ordained minister, said she could no longer plan the wedding.
“We are very uncomfortable with same-sex marriage as it is directly against our beliefs. We would not be a very good fit,” Latimer wrote to White a week ago.
“It was just crazy that she (Rev. Latimer) just completely turned,” White said about the email, according to KTAR. “I really felt like our conversations and our interaction was really genuine, and she really did like me at first.”
Because the business, AffordableWeddingMinisters.com is run by two ordained ministers, Latimer’s refusal may not be illegal.
Attorney Brendan Mahoney, who helped draft the Phoenix LGBT anti-discrimination law, told Arizona TV station 12 News that the First Amendment protects religious businesses from anti-discrimination law.
“If they’re licensed ministers, they get to say who they want to marry and who they don’t,” Mahoney said.
Allen told KTAR that she does not have plans to press charges against Latimer.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and let the Phoenix Equal Opportunity department determine that issue,” she said.
In an email statement to Arizona news outlets, Latimer defended her right not to work with gay couples.
“No matter what I say to you I believe it will be twisted by the media,” she said. “By the stroke of one Federal Judges pen we are being dictated what the state says moral law should be. This goes directly against Gods laws and the majority of Arizona voters in 2008.”
Latimer said that it’s her beliefs that are not tolerated.
“There is a war on those who believe on Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit and the WORD of GOD. Why is my freedom being taken away? Where is the tolerance for our way of life?” she wrote. “God ordained marriage between man and woman. I feel same sex marriage is wrong and have every right to believe in what GOD’s WORD says.”
H/t ThinkProgress
I think if Latimer would have gone to the couple and express her discomfort in dealing with them, and let the couple “fire” her, then she would have more of a defense.
Bigots always try to use their “religious beliefs” in an attempt to rationalize their bigotry. They pick and choose the parts of the Christian Bible to justify whatever ignorance, fear, and prejudices they have about same sex couples.
So, as Marriage Equality moves toward becoming the law of the land, we are now on to the next phase–the defense of public accommodation laws in the face of calls for the right of religious freedom to discriminate in the public marketplace. I don’t think the fact that these folks are ordained ministers is really a defense if they are offering their services for sale to the general public. Perhaps if they were limiting sales to their own congregants, that might fly. But in the America of the Roberts court, who knows?
As frustrating as it is, it sounds like the ministers are legitimately exempted if what they were being asked to do is perform a wedding ceremony that went against their religious beliefs. That’s fine with me. I don’t see any reason why the marriage ceremony officiating itself has to be performed by someone if they think it’s against their religion. There are others who can and will officiate and as long as the state isn’t discriminating in who they allow to get those licenses to perform marriages, then let the religio-bigots have their little sealed pocket of reality resistance. In fact, the law may cover ordained ministers and religious officials without them having to get the license that, say, Uncle Jimmy got when he performed your sister’s wedding. That might be a point of legal attack itself, but it’s probably sufficiently broad that you couldn’t argue any one religion was getting any preference such that it violated the Establishment Clause in some way.
It gets a lot muddier in terms of the wedding planning services part though…which is more akin to the bigot who refused to make the cakes in that other story a few weeks ago.
LibTARDS, ReLIgious FREEDoms IS InscrIBed in OUR Constitution. SusAN LAtimer"S hate OF the GAY is PROtectED by THEse RIghts. When IS eNOUGh ENOght? She ALREaDy has TO WOrk wiTH blacK and MexICANs With CALVEs lIKe melons FROm BRingiNG SaCKS oF MARIJUANA over THE border. STOP GAY HITLER BULLies froM LITERALLY RAPINg CHRIStianity!!11!!!one!!!1!!