So the law against same sex marriage in the state of Florida was recently declared unconstitutional by a US district judge. In response, some clerks of court have declared that they will not issue same sex marriage licenses until they are forced to. Still other clerks have decided that they will no longer allow anyone to get married in the courthouse, in order to avoid accusations of discrimination.
Duval County Clerk of Courts Ronnie Fussell said tells The Florida Times-Union that none of his staff members who currently officiate wedding ceremonies felt comfortable performing same-sex weddings… “It was decided as a team, as an office, this would be what we do so
that there wouldn’t be any discrimination,” Fussell said. “The easiest
way is to not do them at all.”… Fussell said he believed marriage “is between a man and a woman.” He
added, “Personally it would go against my beliefs to perform a ceremony
that is other than that.”
I have two thoughts on this:
1 You are a government employee. You don’t get to decide not to follow the law because it makes you uncomfortable, any more than this guy did. If performing same sex marriages makes you uncomfortable, get a new job. No one is forcing you to work there, and it isn’t up to you.
2 Tactically, this is stupid. If same sex couples cannot get married in a government building because the government no longer performs ceremonies, then you set the stage for forcing the court to declare that officiants cannot discriminate, and this would force officials who hold ceremonies for churches to provide that service to same sex couples.