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Citing religious freedom, NC clergymen sue state for right to perform same-sex marriages 
  
 By Tom Boggioni 
  
 Monday, April 28, 2014 10:52 EDT 
  
 In a twist on the conservative argument over the separation of church and state, a group of clergymen filed suit in North Carolina today challenging state laws that make it illegal for them to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples within their congregations. 
  
 The clergymen, representing the United Church of Christ, as well as Lutheran, Baptist, and Unitarian congregations jointly filed a federal challenge to Amendment One – recently passed by voters – in Western District of North Carolina. 
  
 The addition to the North Carolina Constitution prohibited the state from recognizing or performing same-sex marriages or civil unions. 
  
 The 2012 initiative was approved by voters 61% to 39%. 
  
 According to a plaintiff in the case, Rev. Joe Hoffman, Senior Minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville, NC, “As senior minister, I am often asked to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples in my congregation. My denomination – the United Church of Christ – authorizes me to perform these ceremonies. But Amendment One denies my religious freedom by prohibiting me from exercising this right.” 
  
 According to the Campaign for Southern Equality, today’s suit is the first of 66 marriage equality suits filed nationally to evoke the First Amendment’s right to the free exercise of religion. 
  
 “The core protection of the First Amendment is that government may not regulate religious beliefs or take sides in religious controversies,” said attorney Jonathan Martel. “Marriage performed by clergy is a spiritual exercise and expression of faith essential to the values and continuity of the religion that government may regulate only where it has a compelling interest.” 
  
 The full complaint can be read here (pdf) 
  
 [Minister blessing a gay couple on Shutterstock] ||||| By Emily Harris 
  
 CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - A coalition of clergy members is challenging North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriages, filing the first lawsuit to claim such laws violate their religious freedom guaranteed by the U.S. constitution. 
  
 Led by the United Church of Christ, a rabbi and ministers from Lutheran and Unitarian Universalist churches in the Charlotte area said they should not be penalized for following their faith. 
  
 The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of North Carolina, is the first to attack same-sex marriage bans on the grounds of religious freedom under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ said. 
  
 North Carolina law bars same-sex couples from receiving marriage licenses and makes it a misdemeanor, with a $200 fine, for clergy who perform a marriage ceremony without the license. 
  
 "We are taking a stand for the freedom of religion," said Reverend Geoffrey Black, president of the United Church of Christ at a news conference in suburban Charlotte. 
  
 The event at the Holy Covenant United Church of Christ had a banner that read "Jesus didn't reject." The church is a Protestant denomination with nearly 1 million members nationwide. 
  
 The lawsuit is among 66 challenges pending against state gay-marriage bans across the country, according to the Campaign for Southern Equality. Like the other lawsuits, the new case also claims the North Carolina law violates the 14th Amendment which guarantees equal protection and due process. 
  
 Seventeen U.S. states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex couples to marry. That number would increase if federal court rulings striking down bans in several states are upheld on appeal. 
  
 Same-sex couples named in the North Carolina case said they could go out of state to wed. But many of them have been members of churches for decades and want their ministers to perform the marriage service in front of their home faith community. 
  
 "It's very important to us to get married in our church, our sanctuary, where my parents were married 60 years ago," said Diane Ansley of Old Fort, North Carolina, who is engaged to her partner of 14 years. 
  
 North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and the register of deeds and district attorneys from several counties are named as defendants in the case. 
  
 (Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Richard Chang) |||||
Output:
North Carolina's gay marriage ban is being challenged—by a group of clergymen. The United Church of Christ, Lutheran, Baptist, and Unitarian Universalist ministers, plus two rabbis, filed a lawsuit yesterday claiming that the ban infringes upon their religious freedom, and that because of the separation of church and state, they should be allowed to perform gay weddings. It's the first faith-based challenge to a gay marriage ban, the New York Times reports, and it's one of 66 new marriage equality suits planned across the nation, all of them focusing on the religious freedom argument, the Campaign for Southern Equality says. "As senior minister, I am often asked to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples in my congregation," says one plaintiff, according to the Raw Story. "My denomination—the United Church of Christ—authorizes me to perform these ceremonies. But Amendment One denies my religious freedom by prohibiting me from exercising this right." The amendment makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a $200 fine, to perform religious weddings without a state-issued marriage license, Reuters explains. The 66 planned challenges are also arguing that gay marriage bans violate the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection and due process.