Part II | Outline

Category C | Discrimination

Topic 14 | Same-sex marriage

Opposing same-sex marriage on religious grounds is not unlawful discrimination. Both the dicta in the U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell, which held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, and the statutory language of the Respect for Marriage Act affirm that objecting to same-sex marriage on religious grounds in not unlawful discrimination. There are good faith moral, religious, and legal reasons for opposing same-sex marriage, and attempting to silence expressions of those stances is counterproductive and often unconstitutional.

• Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). In Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution protected a “fundamental right” to same-sex marriage. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy explained that religious opposition to same-sex marriage is a respectable position that does not constitute unlawful discrimination.

  • The dissenting opinions in Obergefell further emphasized that religious individuals and organizations can hold good-faith legal, political, moral and religious viewpoints regarding gay marriage.

• Respect for Marriage Act (2022). The Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act and codifies the holding of Obergefell, includes important provisions protecting the rights of those who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds.

  • The Act’s findings also affirm that “[d]iverse beliefs about the role of gender in marriage are held by reasonable and sincere people” and that those beliefs and people “are due proper respect.”

• Characterizing religious conscience as bigotry. Characterizing sincerely held religious views as “bigotry” is wrong and counterproductive. Such characterization degenerates into its own form of bigotry that silences healthy discourse and seeks control of the conscience of others.