Traditional marriage advocates will defend clerks









New York Clerk Accommodation Memo

Rice Letter to Clerks Re Marriage Licenses-5

  1. Lawrence says:

    Oh please, just come to New York City and get married. The judges are lining up to perform the marriages, our clerks will happily perform their duties, sign the license and wish you well.

    Carol, Mary, Jenny and Martha, Rose Anne will all retire and enjoy their grandchildren and the rights of people to marry will be secure.

    You are whistling Dixie if you believe same-sex marriage will go away.

  2. matt says:

    If they take an oath to uphold the law, then they need to. What if someone claimed it was against their religion to marry anyone who wasn’t christian or white.

  3. OpWad says:

    Voice, the constitution exists in part to protect us from the Tyranny of the Majority. Look it up and be glad that your foolishness is protected too.

  4. Armitage says:


    Anyone can get the waiting period waived, if they make the effort. For something this important to them, I imagine that they made the effort.

  5. zumazumzum says:

    I wonder if garbage collectors can refuse to collect garbage from a same sex couple?

    I wonder if a teacher can throw a child out of class after learning his/her parents are a same sex couple?

    I wonder if an insurance company can null and void a car insurance policy after learning the policy covers drivers who are a same sex couple?

    Are these the next accommodations to be sought?

  6. Dale Gribble says:

    Would there be the same outrage for a Christian scientist working as a pharmacist or doctor, who refused to administer medication to a patient based on thier belief that G*d will do the healing?

  7. Peace & Freedom says:

    So, prior to the same-sex marriage conflict, was the clerk also conflicted with her religious views everytime she signed a license for someone who had been previously divorced, had children out of wedlock, or pre-marial sex? Because the last time I checked those items are also big religious no-no’s. And to add to the quote by Paula the “It doesnâ€™t make whatever happens between gays and lesbians, divorced persons, those who have had children out of wedlock, and those who have had pre-marital sex â€œmarriedâ€. Not now; not ever. Never………..c’mon people. SEPERATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE.

  8. Mark says:

    I didn’t think being gay was normal, can’t even donate blood:
    because it suspected he was gay. The FDA bans gay men and women from donating blood. An Indiana man is suing a blood bank for operating with broken “gaydar.”

    Aaron Pace, who says he’s straight, claims he was barred from donating blood at Bio-Blood Components in Gary, Ind., after a screener told him he acted like he was gay.

    “I was humiliated and embarrassed,” Pace, 22, told the Chicago Sun-Times.


  9. Hyhybt says:

    Eric: That’s not really comparable, because county clerks are representatives of the government and pharmacists are not.

    johnnytsmithjr: Not true. The law only becomes void *if a court strikes down part of it*, not if someone sues to have it enforced. And the religious protections are for clergy and religious organizations, not for government officials. K has it exactly right: a county clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to those who are *legally* qualified to get them because she believes their relationship to be immoral is in exactly the same position as a soldier who refuses to carry a gun because he believes killing to be wrong in all circumstances.

  10. elmer says:

    Anonymous @38, this has nothing to do with accommodating someone’s religious “observance or practice”, but their beliefs. Big difference.

    I am unaware of any religion which as an “observance or practice” prohibits business contact with gays.

  11. Stephanie says:

    the clerks took the oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of New York state.

    Resign if you can’t do the job. Keep your religion and moral beliefs out of the laws of New York State.

    Maybe you can get a new job with one of those evangelical organizations. They seem to have more money than God. Certainly more money than brains.

  12. Hyhybt says:

    Mark: the rule on donating blood is not *being* gay, but being a man who has ever had sex with another man since 1977. Some gay people have never had sex; some straight people have tried gay sex. And it’s certainly not something that can be determined by looking; you have to answer on the questionnaire. (Well, unless you’re actually having gay sex *at* the donation center, but then they’d probably throw you out for straight sex in those conditions too.)

  13. Lawrence says:

    “Episcopal Bishop in Western N.Y. to Allow Priests to Officiate at Gay Marriages” headline and article in the NYT today.

    The times they are a-changing.

RSS feed for comments on this post.