South carolina gay marriage
Proposed Law Would Leave Officials Refuse to Marry Same-Sex Couples in South Carolina
The proposed laws would allow elected officials in South Carolina to refuse to license or solemnize marriages on grounds of ‘religious freedom’
South Carolina Rep. Thomas Beach is at it again. The ultra-conservative, anti-LGBTQ+ lawmaker reintroduced legislation last week to let elected officials to refuse to carry out any marriage or issue any marriage license without facing repercussions.
A previous version of this bill, ironically titled the “Live and Consent Live Act” died in committee last year (HB 3611 2023-2024). But Beach prefiled a nearly identical version under the similar name last week, ahead of next year’s session.
The unused act would avoid the state from taking legal activity against an elected official who refuses to perform or license any marriage, if the official says that the couple's marriage goes against their religious beliefs.
Note: This bill is huge and targets more than marriage rights, but marriage rights are all we’ll be covering here.
We urge you to peruse
Sometimes legislators do something so discriminatory and full of abhor that it’s rigid to believe someone isn’t trying to pull your leg. But six Republican legislators in South Carolina last week introduced legislation that would define any marriage not between a man and a woman as a “parody marriage.” And they’re deadly serious.
On Feb. 15, Reps. Steven Lengthy, Bill Chumley, Mike Burns, John McCravy, Josiah Magnuson, and Rick Martin introduced the “Marriage and Constitution Restoration Act” in the South Carolina House of Representatives. The bill uses the terms “marriage” and “parody marriage” to redefine what unions the state would identify. “Parody marriage,” the legislation says, “means any form of marriage that does not involve one man and one woman.”
The bill is unconstitutional on its face, and the legal analysis it employs is absurd. It relies partly and mistakenly on the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, which states that “Congress shall create no law respecting the establishment of religion.” Under the Establishment Clause, a secular law means one that is nonreligious while a nonsecular one would be religious in nature. Here’s where things get absurd. According t
Same-sex Marriage in South Carolina
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Is Same-Sex Marriage Legal in South Carolina?
Same-sex marriage – also commonly referred to as same-sex attracted marriage – was known in South Carolina in late 2014 after a federal court ruling. Due to the youth of the laws surrounding it, many same-sex couples are still unsure how to file for a marriage license. It is also likely that some county clerks may still be erroneously denying the paperwork to same-sex couples. Our
LEGISLATURE: GAY MARRIAGE? NOT SO FAST
March 18, 2015. Greenville News.By Lyn Riddle. South Carolina's marriage license application has been changed to add spouse and spouse.
State taxes can be filed jointly for same-sex couples who marry, and returns can be amended for the years a couple has been legally wed.
State agencies moved quickly to comply with the ruling of U.S. District Determine Richard Gergel, who struck down South Carolina's ban on gay marriage last November.
Meanwhile, the South Carolina General Assembly is not done with the issue.
Four bills are pending. One would absolve state employees from punitive action if they do not want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Another would prohibit any articulate agency from taking action against individuals or businesses who perform not want to serve male lover couples.
The third would strip away all money from any probate court that issued licenses to same-sex couples.
And the fourth is to be debated by the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday afternoon. It would call for a constitutional convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as being between one gentleman and one woman.
The bill was passed on a 3-2 vote