If you are a public official, the answer is clearly “no.” Attorney-General Blumenthal has issued an opinion which recognizes gay marriage as being on a par with other civil rights, pursuant to the recent Supreme Court decision in the Kerrigan case. Says Mr. Blumenthal:
Section 46b-22 does not impose a duty on persons authorized to perform marriages to perform a marriage for any particular couple or establish a right for couples seeking to marry to have the ceremony performed by a particular authorized person. However, as is currently the case, public officials who have been authorized to perform marriages may not refuse to perform a marriage for discriminatory reasons, in violation of the Connecticut Constitution.
As I read this, clergy may refuse to marry anyone, but public officials who are authorized to solemnize marriages may not, as it would be a violation of those persons’ state constitutional rights.
The Greenwich Time ran an interesting piece last week about the impact of our new situation upon justices of the peace.
In the wake of his expanded duties, one justice of the peace was thinking about stepping down.
“I haven’t had to face that issue, thank God,” said justice Forbes Delany, asked if he would be willing to perform gay marriages. “I can turn down anyone.”
Three days after the release of Blumenthal’s legal opinion, Delany said he was no longer interested in being a justice of the peace. Asked if his decision was influenced by Blumenthal’s statement that justices may not refuse to marry gays, Delany said only, “I think I have to take my name off the list.”
Reactions from other justices range from disappointment to celebration.
Byram Republican Emil Smeriglio, a justice for 25 years and born-again Christian, said last week, “Frankly, it’s against my religion.”
“It’s a discretionary call, I thought,” he said.
I’m afraid that Mr. Delany and Mr. Smeriglio will have to make a call based on conscience in our Brave New State. Indeed, this is only the beginning of a soft expulsion of committed Christians and other traditionalists from public life.
