re: #475 iceweasel

As to gay marriage laws— take a look. Even if gay marriage becomes legal, no-one will force any religion to marry gay people or to honour or recognise gay marriages.

What the iceweasel said.

First, it’s already the case that any religious minister can refuse to marry a couple who aren’t members in good standing of the religious congregation.

Second, it’s also already the case that any religious body is free to excommunicate members. So in the event that a gay couple who were members in good standing of a Catholic congregation tried to “force” the priest to marry them, it would come down to an internal fight between the couple and their church, with the potential result of the couple being excommunicated, long before it ever got to a courtroom.

That said, it’s likely to be the case — contrary to iceweasel’s assertion — that in certain scenarios, religious bodies could be forced to make some degree of accommodation for same-sex couples (i.e., to “recognize” them) who had a valid “couplehood license” from the state, whether it might be called “same-sex marriage” or “civil unions” or whatever. Being somewhat libertarian minded, I’m not especially comfortable with religious institutions being forced to do anything. But at the same time I’m aware that there is a large and complex structure of existing precedent created by anti-discrimination and equal-access laws, and exceptions to such precedent cannot be carved out willy-nilly, because each exception made creates a new precedent.