As High Court Considers Same-Sex Marriage Bans, Michigan Takes Up Religious Freedom

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hear arguments on the controversial Religious Freedom Act on Tuesday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on cases that could lead to a watershed ruling on same-sex marriage.

No vote is expected at the end of the 3 p.m. hearing in Lansing, but committee chairman Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, told the Detroit Free Press he scheduled the hearing at the request of a state senator.

“It’s the same thing I did when Sen. Coleman Young, (a Detroit Democrat) asked for a hearing on legalizing marijuana,” Jones said. “I allowed a hearing, but didn’t get a vote either.”

The hearing comes despite Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s promise that he will veto RFRA legislation that isn’t tied to expansion of the state’s civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity protections. One of the chief criticisms of RFRA legislation is that it writes discrimination into state law.

Similar laws are already on the books in 20 states, including Indiana, where critics threatened economic and tourism boycotts.

State Sen. Jim Ananich, D-Flint, told WWJ/CBS Detroit that religious protections already exist in state and federal law. “... The whole purpose is to discriminate against people,” he said.

But Tom Hickson, vice president of public policy for the Michigan Catholic Service told WWJ that “the wild claims we have heard just have not come to be true.”

Related:

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• Religious Freedom Bills Back Before Michigan Legislature
• Snyder Vows to Veto Religious Freedom Legislation
• Critics: Religious Freedom Restoration Act Legalizes LGBT Discrimination
• U.S. Supreme Court Will Decide Gay Marriage for All 50 States

Backers of RFRA want to get it on the books before the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage bans in Michigan and three other states, expected this summer. The court will address two questions: whether states have the right to impose same-sex marriage bans and, if they do, whether they must recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal.

Jones told the Free Press supporters want to get RFRA legislation on the books in advance of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which could potentially legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Tuesday’s hearing comes on the heels of a Judiciary Committee vote last week advancing for full Senate consideration a bill package that would allow faith-based adoption agencies to refuse to assist same-sex or unmarried couples.

Lonnie Scott, director of Progress Michigan, said Michigan risks becoming “a national embarrassment” with acts like the RFRA, which critics say writes discrimination into state law.

“This rush by the GOP to enshrine discrimination into state law is a waste of resources and the Legislature’s time,” he said, adding that the proposed RFRA would hurt families and is bad for business.