Judge who ‘refuses’ to perform same-sex weddings hasn’t actually been asked to
A Texas judge who made a splash with claims he is “refusing” to perform same-sex weddings hasn’t actually had a single request from a gay couple.
Bill Metzger, who was elected as a Republican justice of the peace in Dallas County, Texas, had posted last week about his “decision” to refuse gay weddings.
He claimed: “Because of my faith in God as a devout Catholic I will be only be conducting traditional marriages.”
The Catholic justice added that “it is not true for someone to say they are required by law to conduct a non-traditional wedding… because he thinks he has the “religious freedom” to refuse.
This flies in the face of official guidance, which clearly states that judges who perform marriages are not allowed to pick-and-choose or turn away couples.
However, WKYC reports that not a single gay couple has actually tried to tie the knot in Metzger’s office before or after his grand proclamation – which is beginning to smell an awful lot like a PR stunt.
Metzger insists he isn’t discriminating, because gay people can go and get married elsewhere.
He said: “I feel we do [treat everyone the same]. I feel anybody in Dallas County has the ability to get a license today and get married
“But in our precinct, we exercise the right to our religious beliefs.”
Metzger’s grand proclamation had stirred up anger on his Facebook page.
One commenter wrote: “You should resign your position as a judge if you cannot do the job you are paid handsomely to do.
“If your faith means that much to you then you should not have a problem with finding work more appropriate to your mediaeval beliefs.”
A second wrote: “What you are doing is against the law and entirely unconstitutional. You need to look into why separation of church and state exist, as well.
“You are clearly incapable of perform your duties as a judge and need to resign.”
