Accommodating religious freedom when legalising same sex marriage

Quite rightly we are opposed to the enactment of any same sex marriage law that would allow discrimination by anyone other than religious organisations and ministers of religion who do not accept same sex marriage on religious grounds.

So why are ‘yes voters’ embracing the proposal in Senator Dean Smith’s Bill to allow some marriage celebrants to call themselves Religious Celebrants, and by reason of that position, be entitled to decline to officiate at same sex weddings?

Why stop florists from being able to discriminate, but allow religious celebrants to do so? What about limousine operators who for religious reasons are opposed to transporting same sex married couples. Should we be consistent and have religious limousine operators?

Ministers of religion are authorised to legally officiate at marriage ceremonies, a precondition to their performance of religious marriage ceremonies). They are specifically authorised to refuse to perform marriages where to do so would be in breach of their church’s tenets.

Marriage Celebrants, on the other hand, are very different. They officiate in almost 3/4 of all Australian weddings. The roposed category of Religious Marriage Celebrants would not represent any religious organisation, nor would they be officiating in religious marriage ceremonies. To call celebrants who want to discriminate, religious celebrants, is to permit one category of individual service providers to discriminate. An Anglican Bishop made an interesting  observation regarding religious marriage celebrants. He questioned why they would want to officiate in place of Ministers of religion, if their objection to same sex marriage was on the grounds of religion.

I also want to question the appropriateness of calling this category of celebrants (if we really must have them) religious marriage celebrants. The use of the word religious clearly suggests that religious people are opposed to same sex marriage – when we know that in fact at least most Christians support same sex marriage.

I suggest that the more you consider this proposal, the less justifiable it becomes.