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Abbott Signs Law Protecting Pastors Who Oppose Same-Sex Marriages

www.flickr.com/photos/paulwoolrich (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a bill that legally protects Texas pastors who don’t want to perform same-sex marriages. Texas Public Radio’s Ryan Poppe reports some ministers say this is a protection ministers already have.

Abbott’s signing of the bill comes as the US Supreme Court prepares to decides whether states can continue banning same-sex marriage.  Outside the governor’s mansion, Abbott said this legislation prevents pastors from being required to violate their religious convictions.  

“Whether or not pastors would be protected was an issue that came up during the supreme court argument. We wanted to put at rest whether there was any uncertainty whatsoever so that these pastors can know that no law, no court decision can coerce them to violate their first amendment right," Abbott said. 

Abbott, who served as the state’s attorney general, said the Texas law would apply, even if the Supreme Court decides states cannot ban same-sex marriages.

“No decision by the United States Supreme Court can trump the 1st amendment of the United States Constitution," Abbott said. 

During the last days of the legislative session the bill won overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers.

At the bill signing Abbott was joined by dozens of ministers from many religious dominations.  That included Kerrville Pastor Greg Young who supports the bill because he says he has seen first-hand how ministers are pressured because of their stand against same-sex marriage. 

“There’s pastors that have been approached in states where this has been legalized and have had threats made against them with regards to it. I had vehicles that were destroyed simply because I put a sticker on them that says I believe marriage is between a man and a woman," Young said. 

Not every minister in Texas shares Young’s point-of-view.   Rev. Meg Barnhouse is the Sr. Pastor at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. She calls the bill signing political theater.

“Because I as a pastor have said no to marrying several couples in the past for one reason or another and any minister has the right to say no in terms of who they want to perform a wedding for, really any minister already has those protections," Barnhouse said. 

Barnhouse says before she marries any couple, gay or straight, she meets with them several times to thoroughly examine their commitment to each other and God.

“I try to figure out the relationship, I try to ask them how they met, I ask them why they would want to get married, because it’s not automatic so there’s a lot that goes into decision to actually get married legally and I’m curious to know what that is," Barnhouse said. 

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.