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35 U. Tas. L. Rev. 106 (2016)
Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty

handle is hein.journals/utasman35 and id is 286 raw text is: 












     Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty


                               GREG  WALSH*


Abstract
A  challenge confronting every State that introduces same-sex marriage is the
protections, if any, that should be provided to religious adherents who object
to same-sex marriage.  Central to the objection that religious individuals have
to participating, either directly or indirectly, in same-sex marriage is their
understanding  of marriage as a spiritual institution established by God that is
inherently a commitment  between  one man  and  one woman.  Considering  this
religious  understanding  of marriage,   the challenge  that the  State must
address  is whether   the religious liberty claim of  the religious adherent
justifies a State providing protection to religious adherents even though this
may  result in same-sex couples  suffering harm from  being unable to access
goods  and services for their wedding from the religious adherent. This article
focuses  on the importance  of protecting  the right to religious liberty and
argues  that considering the importance of this right the State should provide
substantial legal protections to religious adherents who have a conscientious
objection to same-sex marriage.

                             I INTRODUCTION

An  issue confronting every  State that has introduced, or that is considering
introducing, same-sex   marriage is the extent  to which  its implementation
needs  to respect the interests of religious individuals with a conscientious
objection to same-sex  marriage. Central to the objection that some religious
individuals have to same-sex  marriage is their understanding that marriage is
a  religious institution established by God that is inherently a commitment
between   one   man   and  one   woman.'   An   example of this religious


    BSc/LLB, GDLP (ANU), LLM  (Syd), PhD (Curtin) Senior Lecturer, School of Law, The
    University of Notre Dame Australia. The author would like to thank lain Benson, Adrian
    Vincent and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Commentary on the
    article is welcome and can be sent to greg.walsh@nd.edu.au.
    It should be noted that the view that marriage is a religious commitment between one man
    and one woman is not shared by all religious adherents with some religious groups strongly
    in favour of redefining marriage as a commitment between two persons. For example, a
    study undertaken by the Pew Research Centre found that many religions support same-sex
    marriage including the Conservative Jewish Movement, the Episcopal Church, Evangelical
    Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reform Jewish Movement,
    Society of Friends (Quakers), Unitarian Universalist Association of Churches and the

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