An Indiana county clerk, fired for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is suing and citing biblical scripture as her defense. Does she have a case? Maybe.
Linda Summers was an Indiana county clerk who was fired in December after refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. Summers, after refusing, wrote her supervisor an email requesting a religious accommodation. That request was denied and she lost her job.
Now she’s suing claiming the First Amendment gives her the right to practice her religion, and her religion, she claims, prohibits her from issuing licenses to same-sex couples.Â
Her complaint describes her as a “Christian believer and adherent of the Christian faith,” and even names the church she attends.
“Linda Summers,” her lawsuit reads, “has a sincerely held religious belief, based upon the tenants of her faith and biblical teaching, such as Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27, I Cor. 6:9-10; and I Tim 1:9-10, that it is a sin for persons of the same sex to engage in sexual relations and, based upon Genesis 2:18-25, and other biblical authority, that persons of the same sex cannot and should not be morally or legally recognized as husband and wife, and that God will judge individual Christians, as well as the society of which they are a part, who condone or institute same sex marriages.”
County clerks are not required to officiate at weddings, just issue the paperwork.
Summers claims that by doing so, she would violate her religious beliefs. Her attorney sees it as a clear-cut First Amendment case.
But what if Summers were, by her faith, a practicing vegetarian, and had to issue a fishing license? Or Amish, and had to issue a driver’s license? The permutations could go on and on. Where do we draw the line? Should all Christians refuse to issue gun permits? – “Thou shall not kill.” And, the most obvious: Shouldn’t Christians refuse to issue marriage licenses if either party has been divorced?
Ian Millhiser at ThinkProgress notes that “advocates who claim that the right to discriminate is an essential part of ‘religious liberty’ are unlikely to win over the nation if most voters believe that these advocates are seeking such a right.” He adds that Summers, essentially, is making the case that “people who believe that LGBT Americans are entitled to the same government benefits as straight Americans are the Real Bigots.”
Summers claims her termination violates the county’s policy against discrimination based on “race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, military status, or any other classification under applicable law.”
What do you think?
Â
Image by Cary Bass-Deschenes via Flickr and a CC license