http://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/02/08/omalley-pushes-marriage-bill-in-address/ the gay community's news source Tue, 21 May 2013 10:50:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/02/08/omalley-pushes-marriage-bill-in-address/#comment-43441 Ken Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:31:18 +0000 http://www.washingtonblade.com/?p=35632#comment-43441 The religious protections essentially restate legal principles that are already in effect for the benefit of the clueless members and clergy of sex-based churches. Churches have always been able to make rules about who is and is not eligible to be married in the church, and clergy (as well as lay marriage celebrants in Virginia) can turn people down. Under the first amendment, that can’t change. Broadening civil marriage to include everyone also doesn’t change anything for clerks of the court, since they do not now and never have had the ability to exercise personal discretion about whom they marry.

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