What a great country we live in! Couple fined for not hosting same-sex marriage

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What we have here is a few disingenuous people scamming society to wiggle their way into a tax break.

They now claim that they are discriminated against for not being allowed to marry and they further claim that this discrimination violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. But neither claim makes any sense, no one or any law prevented Gay people from marring therefore the 14th had not been violated in any sense.

There is no discrimination in the marriage laws until you "Change" the definition of marriage. It is currently defined in Oregon law in one of two ways:

1 In the solemnization of a marriage no particular form is required except that the parties thereto shall assent or declare in the presence of the clergyperson, county clerk or judicial officer solemnizing the marriage and in the presence of at least two witnesses, that they take each other to be husband and wife.

2 All marriages, to which there are no legal impediments, solemnized before or in any religious organization or congregation according to the established ritual or form commonly practiced therein, are valid. In such case, the person presiding or officiating in the religious organization or congregation shall deliver to the county clerk who issued the marriage license the application, license and record of marriage in accordance with ORS 106.170 (Report of marriage to county clerk). [Amended by 1979 c.724


Husband is the male partner, Wife is the female partner.

The law that the Attorney General of Oregon declined to defend was the line in the Oregon Constitution that marriage is between a Man and a Woman. I have not heard a word what the legislature will change in the Oregon Statutes to make Civil Marriage legal. It would seem several words need to be redefined in the dictionary to make it go. Such as Wife, Husband and Married.

Some ancient words to be changing, not for the benefit of the children in our society, but for the benefit of a vocal minority to gain some tax breaks that Congress never intended to bestow on them.

I think this whole issue is ridiculous. Marriage should be left to the Churches and the Tax law left to the government. Society will be better served with Churches in control the moral institutions of our Society, the government should have no role in this issue. The mission creep that has occurred via tax law to benefit families and children has been perverted and perversion seems to be gaining momentum without a gain for society in view. Even the origin of the ancient word married is being perverted, The word goes all the way back to the Indo-European language beginning. A Man joining with a Mari to be married. Mari was the original word for young woman. One can speculate that Mary a very common name came from Mari the term for a young woman of marriageable age. And then further speculate that there was a rather liberal translation the made Mary, the mother of Jesus a virgin.

It sure as hell takes some more liberal word smithing to get Jack and John married instead of Jack and Jill. But then, they produce no product and therefore, no need to marry, no doubt why they were never required to marry. Ah but now we have the tax break! Equal protection? Baloney!
 
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It doesn't matter what flavor of or non religion the lesbians are. The government effectively establishes every other religion but the farm OWNERS.

I'm not sure that makes any sense. The government isn't 'establishing' a religion here. It's preventing discrimination based on religion.

barfo
 
To these people, marriage is a business. If they don't want to be in the marriage business, and follow the rules of the marriage business, they should get out of the business. They don't have to change their beliefs. They also don't have to be in the marriage business.

The same? No, it's not the same. But it's not clear why the differences should allow discrimination in one case and not the other.

barfo

Well after they win, they will be back in the marriage business, able to refuse ceremonies for gay people.
 
I'm not sure that makes any sense. The government isn't 'establishing' a religion here. It's preventing discrimination based on religion.

barfo

It's squashing religion. The religions not squashed - all others but the OWNERS' - are promoted. To the tune of $13,000.
 
Well after they win, they will be back in the marriage business, able to refuse ceremonies for gay people.

I presume they would refuse to host satanic cult marriage ceremonies as well. So they aren't discriminating AT ALL.
 
So basically anything anti religion is ok in this country?

Muslim family says no Christmas program because it has the word Christ in it and it's a holiday festival
Gay couple wants to get married and a Christ loving couple politely says no and gets sued for thousands of dollars


I can't help but wonder if the same rules apply if it was the other way around? Could a LGBTDGVHOIJHSD%D couple say no to a Christian couple if they wanted to hold prayer ceremonies on their property?
 
So basically anything anti religion is ok in this country?

Muslim family says no Christmas program because it has the word Christ in it and it's a holiday festival
Gay couple wants to get married and a Christ loving couple politely says no and gets sued for thousands of dollars


I can't help but wonder if the same rules apply if it was the other way around? Could a LGBTDGVHOIJHSD%D couple say no to a Christian couple if they wanted to hold prayer ceremonies on their property?

Assuming that the "LGBT...." couple were operating a business allowing people to rent their property for group events, then I think the answer is that they could not say no to a Christian group. Religion is a protected class under federal law and state law in Oregon.

Protected classes in Oregon include:

What are the protected classes in Oregon?
In all 50 states, federal law makes it illegal to discriminate based on:
Race
Color
National origin
Religion
Sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions)
Disability
Age (40 and older)
Citizenship status
Genetic information
In addition, Oregon state law also prohibits discrimination based on:
Race
Color
National origin
Religion
Sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions)
Disability: physical or mental (applies to employers with 6 or more employees)
Age (18 and older)
Genetic information
Marital status
Sexual orientation
Parent with court-imposed medical support order
Domestic violence victim status
Refusal to attend an employer-sponsored meeting with the primary purpose of communicating the employer's opinion on religious or political matters
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/oregon-employment-discrimination-31796.html
 
Employment discrimination is a different animal, no?

You're correct, but the laws on "public accommodation" are similar:

§ 659A.403¹
Discrimination in place of public accommodation prohibited
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation, without any distinction, discrimination or restriction on account of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age if the individual is 18 years of age or older.

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/659A.403
 
So basically anything anti religion is ok in this country?

Muslim family says no Christmas program because it has the word Christ in it and it's a holiday festival
Gay couple wants to get married and a Christ loving couple politely says no and gets sued for thousands of dollars


I can't help but wonder if the same rules apply if it was the other way around? Could a LGBTDGVHOIJHSD%D couple say no to a Christian couple if they wanted to hold prayer ceremonies on their property?

Here is an example of the shoe being on the other foot...

http://www.edgeboston.com/columnists/mark_malis/49720/should_straight_people_be_allowed_in_gay_bars

Gay Aussie hotel wins right to ban heterosexuals, lesbians
"The hotel predominantly markets itself towards homosexual males, towards gay men and we want to protect the integrity of the venue as well as continue to make the men feel comfortable," McFeely said. "When large numbers of heterosexuals or even lesbians are in the hotel that changes the atmosphere and many gay men can feel uncomfortable." Story!

Summary: The owner won the right because straight people (and sadly some lesbians as well) came in to physically and verbally assault the gay male patrons. Is it wrong to give gay men just one place in the entire region to feel safe and protected?

Woman files human rights complaint against Montreal gay bar that bans women.
Audrey Vachon said Wednesday she was recently refused service at Le Stud in Montreal’s gay village after sitting down with her father for a quiet afternoon pint. A waiter came over and told her father, Gilles, that the bar does not serve women. "On the spot I didn’t believe it, I thought it was a bad joke,’’ Vachon said. "I didn’t say a word until I’d left. I was too shocked. I was embarrassed, I was humiliated, I felt guilty that I’d even gone there, like I’d done something wrong.’’ Story!

Summary: This women is obviously gay friendly as she was with her gay dad and just wanted to spend some time with him. I have been to this bar personally and must say that I do like the fact that it is all male but on the flip side I have female friends(Susan, Laura, Maureen--they read this blog, lol), my mom (totally loves the gays!), and my mom-in-law (also loves the gays, lol) that I can imagine having a blast with stuffing dollar bills down the undies of some male dancer.
 
I presume they could deny all religious practices and would not be violating the law.

Good question. I don't know. Seems like that would be giving unfair advantage in accommodation to godless heathens like you, Denny. ;)
 
Good question. I don't know. Seems like that would be giving unfair advantage in accommodation to godless heathens like you, Denny. ;)

It wouldn't be the government forcing religion on unwilling Persons. Separation of church and state, you know.

I also don't see how a religious ceremony itself is an accommodation.

Do you think houses of worship are excluded from the Oregon law? Is it a violation for a synagogue to refuse to perform Christian ceremonies?
 
It wouldn't be the government forcing religion on unwilling Persons. Separation of church and state, you know.

I also don't see how a religious ceremony itself is an accommodation.

Do you think houses of worship are excluded from the Oregon law? Is it a violation for a synagogue to refuse to perform Christian ceremonies?

But it would be denying a group access to your place of public accommodation strictly because they might engage in their constitutionally protected right of freedom of religious expression. The accommodation is the rental of the property as a business, not the religious ceremony.

Churches and synagogues are not-for-profit entities and do not offer goods or services to the public. As such, I believe they would be exempt from the public accommodation law.

But I'm not a lawyer and much energy these days seems to be spent by one group or anther trying to shove their views on a given subject down somebody else's throat, so who the heck knows?
 
But it would be denying a group access to your place of public accommodation strictly because they might engage in their constitutionally protected right of freedom of religious expression. The accommodation is the rental of the property as a business, not the religious ceremony.

Churches and synagogues are not-for-profit entities and do not offer goods or services to the public. As such, I believe they would be exempt from the public accommodation law.

But I'm not a lawyer and much energy these days seems to be spent by one group or anther trying to shove their views on a given subject down somebody else's throat, so who the heck knows?

Houses of worship are open to the general public as are businesses. They might even be in the same strip mall. What differentiates them is religious services.

What the farm has done is to stop hosting weddings entirely. The Denny's up the street from me doesn't host weddings, either.

I do agree that people have the right of expression, but you only do it on my property if invited and I allow it.

The farm has no problem renting the property for the couple's reception. They don't want to subsidize or participate in the ritual. The former sentence alleviates them from any discrimination claim. The latter is the OWNERS' rights at issue.

Subsidize would mean anything from using proceeds to pay the rent or mortgage on the property, to paying wages for employees setting up decorations or even talking on the phone.

I don't agree, at all, with the owners denying the ceremony. It's one of those things we have to live with so other liberties aren't eroded. Like Nazis being allowed to march in Skokie (dense Jewish population). If the nazis are denied their rights, where is the line drawn for everyone else? I think no line at all is best, and punish abuses that are harmful to others.
 
It wouldn't be the government forcing religion on unwilling Persons. Separation of church and state, you know.

I also don't see how a religious ceremony itself is an accommodation.

Do you think houses of worship are excluded from the Oregon law? Is it a violation for a synagogue to refuse to perform Christian ceremonies?


The answer is no, no violation, no difference.

106.150¹
Form of solemnization

• witnesses
• solemnization before congregation


2 All marriages, to which there are no legal impediments, solemnized before or in any religious organization or congregation according to the established ritual or form commonly practiced therein, are valid. In such case, the person presiding or officiating in the religious organization or congregation shall deliver to the county clerk who issued the marriage license the application, license and record of marriage in accordance with ORS 106.170 (Report of marriage to county clerk). [Amended by 1979 c.724 §5; 2001 c.501 §2; 2007 c.703 §3]
 
The farm has no problem renting the property for the couple's reception. They don't want to subsidize or participate in the ritual. The former sentence alleviates them from any discrimination claim.

No, that's ridiculous. Try it sometime. "Hey, I don't always cheat on my taxes, so I'm free to do it in this case". "Officer, sometimes I don't speed, so it's ok that I was going 120 today." "I only kill a few people each year, so don't be calling me a murderer."

Subsidize would mean anything from using proceeds to pay the rent or mortgage on the property, to paying wages for employees setting up decorations or even talking on the phone.

That's a bizarre, backwards definition of subsidize - not that that matters here. Subsidizing the marriage ceremony would mean paying for part or all of it, not making a profit on it.

barfo
 
Since when have the laws ever said that marriage is only for religious people?

barfo

Most laws in the land (not all, I grant, but all in, say, 2007) state that marriage is between a man and a woman. :dunno: I didn't want to leave a thread with a question open to me, but I'm about done here.
 
Most laws in the land (not all, I grant, but all in, say, 2007) state that marriage is between a man and a woman. :dunno: I didn't want to leave a thread with a question open to me, but I'm about done here.

I notice it doesn't take you long to get the point Brian. But I think you (and I) could take forever to get some to hear it. I understand being about done here.
 
Kind of like how someone can say "I'm not Christian/Muslim/Jewish, I'm whatever-the-fuck/atheist, so help me get around these pesky laws around marriage so I can marry according to my (non)-faith?" Bending laws like that? Some people agree with you that that is BS :)

Since when have the laws ever said that marriage is only for religious people?

barfo

Most laws in the land (not all, I grant, but all in, say, 2007) state that marriage is between a man and a woman. :dunno: I didn't want to leave a thread with a question open to me, but I'm about done here.

I appreciate and respect your desire to get out of the thread, so I won't ask any questions. I will say, though that male-female marriages are not limited to the religious and have not been for at least decades if not hundreds of years.

barfo
 
No, that's ridiculous. Try it sometime. "Hey, I don't always cheat on my taxes, so I'm free to do it in this case". "Officer, sometimes I don't speed, so it's ok that I was going 120 today." "I only kill a few people each year, so don't be calling me a murderer."



That's a bizarre, backwards definition of subsidize - not that that matters here. Subsidizing the marriage ceremony would mean paying for part or all of it, not making a profit on it.

barfo

You and your bad analogies and strawmen.

Nothing to respond to in your post. It's just not relevant.

Taxes. Huh.
 
You and your bad analogies and strawmen.

Nothing to respond to in your post. It's just not relevant.

Taxes. Huh.

Unconditional surrender accepted.

barfo
 
Unconditional surrender accepted.

barfo

Yeah, I surrender to your off topic raving about speeding, murder and cheating on income taxes.

They are clearly all about what's going on with this farm.
 

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