Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has issued an executive order protecting the religious liberties of clergy and religious groups that may be opposed to same-sex marriages. As KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports, it came the same day that the governor’s administration began opening some state services to same-sex couples in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
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Governor Brownback has been public about his opposition to the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, calling it the work of “activist courts.” His executive order says Kansas state government can’t take any action against clergy or religious organizations based on their beliefs or their refusal to be involved in same-sex marriages.
Here’s Brownback in an audio statement provided to the media.
“Religious liberty is at the heart of who we are as an American people and as Kansans. This right is the right that the founders came over in search of when they started this country,” says Brownback.
The executive director of the ACLU of Kansas calls the executive order unnecessary and says it sanctions discrimination against same-sex couples.