New legislation in the Ohio House seeks to ensure that ministers and religious groups couldn’t be penalized for refusing to marry gay couples.
Under House Bill 286, introduced Tuesday, ordained ministers or religious societies could not be subject to civil or criminal liability for refusing to perform or host gay marriages.
State and local officials would also be barred from withholding benefits to religious groups that refuse to perform gay marriages.
The measure comes after last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states. Some ministers have already begun to perform same-sex weddings; others have refused.
Rep. Nino Vitale, the Champaign County Republican who introduced the bill, said pastors have expressed concerns to him that they would be penalized for refusing to perform same-sex weddings.
“We live in a pluralistic society, and we need to find ways of getting along with each other without suing each other, fining each other, and putting each other in jail,” Vitale said.
Vitale referenced a story claiming that a pastor in Vermont was sentenced to one year behind bars for refusing to marry a gay couple. When told that story has been shown to be false, Vitale said there are other instances in which similar threats have been made against other religious figures.
The bill has 25 co-sponsors so far, including one Democrat – state Rep. Bill Patmon of Cleveland. Vitale said he’s not sure how the bill will fare when lawmakers reconvene this fall.
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