Ohio judges cannot pick-and-choose which weddings to perform
Buckeye jurists today received clarification on same-sex marriage in the state of Ohio. Judges that normally perform wedding ceremonies cannot pick-and-choose which couples they will bring together and which they will not. If the judge says yes to some, then the judge must say yes to all.
A Toledo municipal judge had asked for the opinion after he declined to perform the wedding of two lesbians last month…as he later said…based upon his “personal and Christian beliefs established over many years.” (Judge C. Allen McConnell is a senior elder at the First Church of God.) The ceremony was performed by another judge 45 minutes later.
The Board of Professional Conduct for the Ohio Supreme Court on Monday said that judges cannot offer services to some who appear before the court that they would not offer to all based on their “personal, moral, or religious beliefs.” (jj)
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