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4/12/2015
RFRA bill, gay marriage in Georgia a fight over state control ­ The Red and Black : Uganews
April 12, 2015
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RFRA bill, gay marriage in Georgia a fight
over state control
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Jose Antonio Navas
According to a study released by the Williams Institute, legalizing same­sex marriage in Georgia would add millions in
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A recently ruled court case now allows gay couples to
marry in the state of Alabama. But for those in the state’s
neighbor to the east, fewer opportunities exist.
Susan Haire, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, said the two conservative states’
politics shouldn’t be compared, as the ruling has more to do with the timing and number of cases.
“[Georgia] didn’t have the same litigation flowing like
some of the other states did,” Haire said. “Part of this is
just timing. There were a number of states that had
bans, and I’m really not sure why it’s the case that cases
were slow to develop in Georgia.”
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RFRA bill, gay marriage in Georgia a fight over state control ­ The Red and Black : Uganews
Central vs. state authority
provide tailback depth
As it stands now, Georgia is one of only three states that
bans gay marriage and has no court ruling to lift it. Haire
said there is a court case in Georgia that is in the pre­
trial phase, but the Supreme Court will likely wait until
June to decide whether gay marriage will be legal in all
50 states.
Football notebook: Jordan Jenkins and
Even the Court’s decision to take on this issue has
created a heated debate between states and the federal
government about who has the power to regulate
marriage. And the U.S. Constitution, the one document
supposed to provide answers for these issues, is
unclear on the subject.
Alex Rowell, president of the UGA Young Democrats,
points to the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th
Amendment as evidence for why it’s the federal
government’s responsibility to legalize gay marriage.
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“It’s a constitutional issue,” he said. “Under the equal
protection clause, it’s pretty clear that there’s a right to
marry someone of your choice, same sex or
heterosexual.”
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Leah Blackman, who identifies as gay, said the issue
should be federalized.
“There are in the world currently 20 countries in which
same sex marriage is legal. The U.S. is not one of them,”
said Blackman, a freshman political science and
international affairs major from Jefferson. “There are 76
countries in which being gay is criminalized, and in 10
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Blackman said she considers her lack of ability to marry inherent discrimination and a major human rights
violation.
Both Rowell and Haire said, based on trends and the current political environment, they expect the Supreme
Court to rule that banning same sex marriage is unconstitutional, though it will be a close vote.
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Many states with bans on gay marriage are also expecting the Supreme Court’s ruling, which Rowell said could
correlate with why some of them are trying to pass Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.
baseball loss to Alabama
“You can see it in the rhetoric from the people that are pushing state level RFRAs now,” Rowell said. “It’s very
much a last effort when they’re seeing gay marriage come to their state, and they want to try to stand against that
any way they can. It’s definitely a push back against the gay rights movement.”
But Grant Thomas, executive director of the UGA College Republicans, said RFRAs serve a much different
purpose.
He said there have been issues where local and state governments have not recognized certain group’s
religious rights, and Georgia’s RFRA is seeking to protect them.
“Supporters of the bill say that legislation is needed to protect individuals from state and local governments
intruding on their religious rights,” Thomas said. “Right now, the burden of proof is on the individual to prove that
the government infringed on their religious liberties. This law would flip it around where state and local
governments would have to prove that they have a compelling government interest to infringe on someone’s
religious rights.”
Thomas said the issue is not with Georgia’s RFRA, but rather that Georgia does not have civil rights legislation
and that the LGBT community is not considered a protected class.
Even if local ordinances said private individuals and businesses could not discriminate against the LGBT
community, the RFRA could be used as an override if that person feels his or her religious beliefs are being
infringed.
Thomas said adding an anti­discrimination amendment to the bill would be the smartest way to make both sides
happy.
But the bill was tabled when an anti­discrimination amendment was brought up. Thomas said some lawmakers
thought adding it would gut the bill.
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4/12/2015
RFRA bill, gay marriage in Georgia a fight over state control ­ The Red and Black : Uganews
Anthony Kreis, a Ph.D. candidate in the departments of political science and public administration and policy,
said he predicted the bill would die.
“I’m pretty confident in saying it’s not going to be law this year, but it will certainly come back next year,” Kreis
said.
Equality vs. liberty
While many students on campus said it is important for the LGBT community to have equal rights, some worry it
will be done at the expense of others’ religious liberties.
Rebecca Staple, a senior classical culture and Latin major from Anchorage, Alaska, is the president of Students
for Life at UGA and describes herself as a “pro­life feminist.”
Stapleford said equality for the LGBT community is just as important as the freedom of religious believers.
“In terms of equality, yes, it should be at the federal level,” Stapleford said. “But I think people need conscience
protections, too, because what I’ve seen is a disturbing trend towards penalizing private organizations like
Christian universities that have certain religious stances. The government needs to recognize religious freedom
as well.”
In the coming months, Thomas said the issue will receive about as much reaction as the RFRA bill did.
The LGBT community will praise the Supreme Court for finally recognizing their rights, while the religious rights
activists will see this as infringing on their religious liberties, he said.
It will be tough, he said, but maybe conservatives should view this issue in a different, more business­friendly
way.
“Since the Republicans have a platform that is focused on job creation and bettering the economy, the last thing
we want to do is discriminate against people,” Thomas said. “At the end of the day, your business will drive away
customers if you’re discriminating against people.”
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1 comment:
JanusVI posted at 4:09 pm on Thu, Apr 9, 2015.
Posts: 1
It is marriage a personal right or a tool created by society with a goal in mind?
If it is a personal right all this kinds of marriage must be allowed
Dad ­Son
Mom­ Daughter
Between brothers Between Sisters.
Grandpa ­ Grandson
Grandma ­ Granddaughter
And ABC will have the right to show teenage twin brothers in love and kissing.
The next point is who will decide if marriage is a personal right?
The Supreme Court Judges.
Do they need some help?
Forums like this will be helpful to them to collect ideas.
Log In to report. Link
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RFRA bill, gay marriage in Georgia a fight over state control ­ The Red and Black : Uganews
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