Finally, this guys voice will be heard in North Carolina.
Finally, this guy's voice will be heard in North Carolina. Rommel Canlas / shutterstock.com

Several media outlets today report that the North Carolina House of Representatives followed the state’s senate and passed a bill that allows court officials with “sincerely held” religious beliefs to bow out of performing any duties related to same-sex marriage.

The 69-41 decision overrides Republican governor Pat McCrory’s veto of the bill, thus privileging the fears of those who don’t want to disappoint their god over the rights of those who want to profess their undying love for one another within the bounds of the law.

Magistrates who decide they don’t want to do their job and uphold the state law that makes gay marriage legal in North Carolina also relinquish their ability to perform any marriages for the six months following that decision, allowing them plenty of time to construct poorly worded, overly complex protest signs and potentially causing delays for anyone who wants to get hitched.

This “development”—bestowing low-level functionaries with the power to discriminate against others under the guise of “religious freedom” despite the First Amendment’s explicit demand that “the state make no laws respecting an establishment of religion”—reflects in spirit if not in kind so-called “conscience clauses” that run rampant throughout the South.

A particularly ridiculous case of this happened back in April of this year, when a Walmart pharmacist in Georgia denied a woman Misoprostol, a drug used in abortions, that would help pass remaining tissue related to her miscarriage. Despite having a doctor’s prescription, the woman claimed the pharmacist denied her the drug by peering down at her and saying, “I couldn't think of a reason why you would need that prescription.” Pharmacists can also deny contraceptives if their delicate constitutions are offended by the notion that some people want to bone without fear of baby-making.

The parallels to Jim Crow are hard to miss, too, as we've discussed on Slog before.

Not everyone in North Carolina wants their conscience to be characterized by discrimination and hatred, but it will be hard to believe otherwise until people pressure lawmakers challenge this bill.