Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore has instructed state probate justices not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Alabama House passes bill allowing officials to refuse to perform same-sex marriages

The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would allow any judge, minister or other official to refuse to perform a marriage ceremony.

Introduced by Republican Rep. Jim Hill, the “Freedom of Religion in Marriage Protection Act” will now be considered in the state Senate. It passed through the state House by a vote of 69-25.


During the legislative session, Democrats decried the bill as another effort to prevent same-sex couples from marrying.

Democratic Rep. A.J. McCampbell asked the bill’s sponsor: “Why all of a sudden has this become an issue?,” local news reported. Hill replied, “I can’t answer that, sir.”

Another state representative, Democrat Patricia Todd, the state’s only openly gay representative, called the bill “very hurtful” while crying on the House floor.

The Democratic leader of the state House, Rep. Craig Ford , called the bill a “travesty to justice.” His colleague Rep. Napoleon Bracy, also a Democrat, argued that the bill was a waste of time since it would inevitably be struck down by federal court.

Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban was overturned in federal court earlier this year.

Though same-sex couples have begun receiving marriage licenses in most of the state, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore has instructed state probate justices not to issue such licenses and a few have chosen to follow his ruling instead of the federal court’s, which constitutionally should supersede it.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on April 28 in a case that is expected to decide the ultimate constitutionality of state same-sex marriage bans. A decision is expected in June.

Currently 37 states, including Alabama, as well as the District of Columbia, allow same-sex marriages.

Alabama, however, is the only state in which a federal court’s ruling on same-sex marriage has been openly disregarded by the state Supreme Court.