Religion & American Law

Very shortly after same-sex civil unions became legal in Illinois, a local male couple searched for options of a place to make their partnership official. These men wanted their wedding to be quaint and quiet, just like their lifestyles. In searching for a place to have their wedding, they asked two local Bed and Breakfasts if they could hold a wedding there. According to the article posted in the Chicago Tribune, both places asked said that they would not host a same-sex civil union, one for blatantly religious reasons and one because they will “just be doing traditional weddings.” The two men, Todd and Mark Wathen, are filing a lawsuit against both establishments after filing a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. The Department claimed that there was substantial evidence of a civil rights violation. The couple ended up having the ceremony in their backyard, but refuses to be quiet about their case.

Recently, with many states legalizing same-sex marriage, Americans have seen many similar conflicts arise. Most of these conflicts bring up the constitutional claim that we the people have the right to exercise our religious beliefs freely. In the past, the Supreme Court has stated that “freedom of belief is absolute, but freedom to act cannot be.” For this to be a case of discrimination, it would have to violate the state of Illinois’ Human Rights Act, which protects people that are discriminated against based on their sexual orientation. This then brings up a battle with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which essentially protects religious freedoms from intrusion by the government. As we have often mentioned in class, this opens up a can of worms, or creates a slippery slope, because claiming that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act beats the Human Rights Act is also claiming that people are allowed to discriminate based on religious convictions.

Personally, I feel that both of the Bed and Breakfasts should be allowed to deny the same-sex couple of their establishment for use of a same-sex wedding. Of course, this would have to be true for every same-sex couple. Once an exemption is made, then there would be discrimination. The reasons for my opinion align with strict separationist arguments, that practicing your religion of choice should be unhindered by the government. There is certainly a great deal of grey area here because I do not believe that a religious group or religious people should be allowed to do whatever they want. Here, the owners of the Bed and Breakfasts did not agree with same-sex marriage due to their religious beliefs, so I feel that they should be allowed to deny the couple’s request. The couple could easily find another place that would support their wedding. Also, most Bed and Breakfasts double as the owners’ homes. Don’t we have the right to disallow people we don’t want in our homes from entering them? This makes the issue even easier to decipher for me because had this been a public location, I would have much more trouble backing up the owners of the establishment.

This case reminds me of the situation of door to door promoters. If any religious group comes up to your door, you have the right to not listen to them and to not let them into your home. This can be for any reason, including religious beliefs. Since the Bed and Breakfast is private property, I feel that constitutionally the owners have the right to allow or disallow service to whomever they please.