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Gay Equality, Religious Liberty, And The First Amendment, Matthew J. Murray

Matthew Murray

Are gay rights laws and religious liberty fundamentally in conflict? Would legal recognition of same-sex marriage lead to a wave of litigation threatening the religious liberty of those who object to such unions on religious grounds? Opponents of same-sex marriage have vocally asserted as much. This Article argues, however, that modifications in civil marriage laws in fact pose little to no threat to the liberty of religious objectors. Rather, the real arena of potential conflict between religious liberty and gay equality arises in the context of sexual orientation nondiscrimination laws. But these tensions are not new. The courts should be …