[Trigger warning for homophobia and Christian Supremacy.]
"I'm not a politician. I'm one individual that has a very special relationship with Jesus Christ. And I just can't do this."—Republican Town Clerk for Ledyard, New York, Rose Marie Belforti, who refused to sign a marriage license for a same-sex couple this summer, after New York legalized same-sex marriage. Belforti says her Christian beliefs prevent her from fulfilling her duties in good conscience.
That's fair enough. Then it's time to quit your job, ma'am.
Right now, a deputy clerk has taken over the responsibility of issuing marriage licenses, which Belforti evidently believes is a reasonable solution. It is not. Same-sex couples should not be required to navigate Belforti's public bigotry, no matter how much she's struggled with her decision nor how much she believes her religious beliefs are a legitimate justification.
Belforti, at the event whence the above quote came, also expressed consternation that "everyone thinks I'm a bigot." Well, unfortunately, "Jesus says so" isn't a rationalization for discrimination to which everyone is sympathetic, especially when there are millions of American Christians who don't subscribe to anti-gay prejudice.
And, by the way, most of them think they have "a very special relationship with Jesus Christ," too. Whooooooooooooooops.
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