Written by Don Byrd
I posted earlier this week about bills winding through state legislatures that create exemptions from nondiscrimination laws for employees that object on religious grounds to serving same-sex couples. In Kansas earlier today, one of those measures came a step closer to becoming law when a House Committee sent the House Bill 2453 to the state House for a vote.
The Wichita Eagle reports:
If the bill becomes law, public and private employees alike could refuse service to same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs concerning marriage. Because religion is a protected status, the employer could not terminate the employee for this refusal. The law would also shield private businesses from discrimination lawsuits.
A provision requires government agencies to still provide the requested service, but individual clerks could object to signing a marriage license, for example. Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, R-Palco, introduced an amendment, which passed, that would exempt private businesses from the same legal obligation.
