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So for any Utahans out there.. is Mike Lee an Idiot or a Media Whore?
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He is wrong, of course. Churches and church preachers do NOT have to marry people - same or opposite sex. The Catholics can refuse to marry you if you aren't Catholic, or don't go to this Catholic church or because the priest is busy at the moment. Jewish rabbis don't have to officiate any weddings if they don't want. Same with any other church. CHURCH.
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That is also the rule if you aren't doing this for money. Ed and I were married by a friend who was granted the ability when he wanted to officiate at his daughter's wedding. But he doesn't charge, so he doesn't have to marry anyone. Period.
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So who does have to officiate at a wedding?
1) A county official who presides at weddings as part of his or her job. That is part of the job, and they have to marry anyone with a license. They don't get to turn down gay people anymore than a Muslim man at the DMV can refuse to give a driving test to an unrelated woman.
2) Someone who advertises that they do weddings for anyone that comes it (this is, I would think, limited to Vegas).
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Let's look at a simple analogy (for Mike Lee, that means an example that is like the one I am trying to help you understand).
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Senator Lee, you may have hosted a Wedding Reception in your backyard for your friends or daughter's service. But that isn't what you do to make money, you don't advertise your backyard as a wedding reception venue and you don't charge others. You don't have to host a same sex wedding reception - your relatives or anyone else's. (I am assuming, in this example, that your busy senate schedule of not doing anything is your primary income - not renting out your backyard.)
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But if "Tom and Betty's House of Wedding Reception and Banquet Halls" rents out space for Wedding Receptions all the time, they DO have to allow a same sex marriage to rent the space. Just like they would have to allow an mixed race couple, or a Jewish couple or any other couple to rent the space.
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Just like the "Big Gay Ice Cream Store" here in New York city has to serve everyone.
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| It is a place of business and so it serves everyone. Both because it is a sparkly unicorn shop, and IT IS THE LAW. Duh! |