James Call

Democrat Capitol Reporter

A “pastor protection" bill passed out of the Florida House Wednesday, and its chances of passage in the Senate look good. The House voted 82 -37 to approve the measure blocking lawsuits against a member of the clergy or religious group for not marrying same-sex couples.

“It just makes it clear that clergy is protected from legal challenges,” said Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, who sponsored the measure. “Without it a small church, if they were approached and a lawsuit was filed against it, could be shut down.”

The bill's prospects for adoption improved after the Senate cleared a path to take it up when it arrives. Shortly before the House vote, the Senate tabled Sen. Aaron Bean’s, R-Fernandina Beach, version of the bill.

“It’s just procedural,” Bean explained. “We can’t seem to handle it when bills cross each other in the rotunda; it tends to become confusing. So, we’re just going to wait for the House bill to come over.”

Pastor Christopher Walker urged Plakon to find a legislative fix after the U.S Supreme Court last summer struck down state bans on same-sex marriage. Walker said he was told by members of the LGBT community that it would be discriminatory if he were to refuse a request to marry a same-sex couple.

“As a pastor, I have the right to refuse anyone with whom I disagree with. Heterosexuals, if I don’t agree they should marry I simply say no and they walk away,” said Walker of Cathedral of Power International Church in Clermont. “I think the LGBT community needs to consider the same option.”

Plakon and Bean say the proposal protects a pastor’s right to free agency; to teach principles central to their lives and faith. Justice Anthony Kennedy, in the ruling that prompted the Plakon bill, said those rights were protected by the First Amendment. Opponents said Kennedy’s written opinion makes a pastor protection law unneeded, discriminatory and insulting.

“When you allow someone to say no based on religious beliefs you open the door to discriminatory practices,” said Rep. Kionne McGhee, D-Miami.

McGhee said the bill would reduce the Civil Rights Act to mere words and that the proposal was supported by those seeking political gain under the guise of protecting religious freedom.

“There is absolutely nothing in this bill that speak to pastor protection,” said McGhee. “This is the exact poison component that we’ve seen time and time again to divide us on the basis of belief, race and sexual orientation.”

Plakon said he wasn’t trying to discriminate against anyone and at times thought his opponents were reacting to some other proposal.

“It’s a one-page bill. I don’t know what they were talking about,” Plakon said of the parade of Democrats who denounced the proposal.

Charges of discrimination carry a huge risk for churches. In a 1983 ruling against Bob Jones University, the Supreme Court found that the Internal Revenue Service has the right to remove tax exempt status from religious institutions when their practices violate the government’s public policy – in the Jones case the policy was ending racial discrimination.

Plakon and Bean said the proposal was a safeguard for churches.

“I hope the law lays dormant and is never invoked,” said Bean. “It’s needed a lot like getting a flu shot is needed; protection against something unforeseen from happening.”

Contact reporter James Call at jcall@tallahassee.com and follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee.