{"id":13461,"date":"2015-06-26T10:44:04","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T15:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/how-a-supreme-court-decision-for-gay-marriage-would-affect-religious-institutions\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:19:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:19:38","slug":"how-a-supreme-court-decision-for-gay-marriage-would-affect-religious-institutions","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/06\/26\/how-a-supreme-court-decision-for-gay-marriage-would-affect-religious-institutions\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Supreme Court\u2019s decision for gay marriage could affect religious institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sexual<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Even before\u00a0the Supreme Court’s\u00a0decision granting same-sex couples a constitutional right to wed, legal scholars and others have been trying\u00a0to determine how such a ruling might affect religious institutions. It\u00a0has been\u00a0a question on the minds of the justices, too.<\/p>\n\n

Indeed, during the April 28 oral arguments<\/a> in the case, Obergefell v. Hodges<\/a>, most of the justices asked about or commented on this issue. Justice Samuel Alito drew a possible parallel<\/a> with Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian institution that lost its nonprofit, tax-exempt status<\/a> in 1983 as a result of its policy banning interracial marriage and dating.<\/p>\n\n

If the court ruled in favor of gay marriage, \u201cwould the same apply to a university or college if it opposed same-sex marriage?\u201d Alito had asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who was arguing on behalf of the government in favor of gay marriage. \u201cIt is going to be an issue,\u201d Verrilli answered.<\/p>\n\n

Virtually everyone agrees\u00a0that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution offers some protections for religious groups. For example, most (even among gay rights advocates) believe the Constitution protects clergy from being required to officiate at marriages for same-sex couples and churches from being forced to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in their sanctuaries.<\/p>\n\n

But what about a church basement or retreat center, which is rented out for opposite-sex weddings? And what about a religiously affiliated institution, like a university, that offers married heterosexual students housing but refuses such accommodation for married gay and lesbian students?<\/p>\n\n

These questions have real-world implications, since virtually all American religious groups have affiliated nonprofits (such as schools, hospitals and charities). And many, including some evangelical Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church, the Mormon church and Orthodox Jewish groups, oppose gay marriage on religious grounds.<\/p>\n\n

Some scholars believe that the\u00a0ruling in favor of gay marriage will not lead to widespread acrimony and legal battles. They note, for example, that there is no federal law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. And, of the 22 states<\/a> that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, a majority (13) have at least some protections for religious groups written into their anti-discrimination statutes.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a big difference between something that could be an issue and something that\u2019s likely to be an issue,\u201d says Robert Tuttle, who teaches religion and law at George Washington University. Tuttle says he believes there may be some lawsuits, but he predicts that in more cases than not, accommodation and compromise are likely to win out. \u201cAfter all, we still allow institutions, like universities, to discriminate based on gender,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n

But University of Illinois law professor Robin Fretwell Wilson says it\u2019s possible that institutions will be pressured to give ground on gay marriage by federal authorities (such as the Internal Revenue Service, which could take away an institution\u2019s tax-exempt status), state civil rights commissions or private lawsuits. She notes, for example, that the federal government now reads its laws against sex discrimination \u201cto include sexual orientation discrimination, which opens a whole layer of potential threat\u201d to religious organizations.<\/p>\n\n

And yet she also says it is possible that all sides will \u201cbe able to live in peace,\u201d noting a recent compromise in Utah<\/a>, \u201cwhere you saw an extension of gay rights in exchange for religious protections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Note: This is an update of a post published on June 25, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Related: Timeline: Same-sex marriage, state by state<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Gay marriage around the world<\/a><\/p>\n\n

5 facts about same-sex marriage\u00a0<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some legal scholars and others are trying to determine how a ruling granting same-sex couples a constitutional right to wed might affect religious 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