Vermont, has been sentenced to one year
imprisonment for refusing to wed a gay couple.
The Honorable Myron Danus in his verdict said,
“Religious freedom goes both ways, Mr. Horner,”
Danus told a packed courtroom.
“It is not your place to deny individuals the
same rights that everyone else has, rights that
were passed down and agreed upon in a court of
law, the ultimate court, the Supreme Court. It is
not your decision whether or not you agree with
the law but more importantly that you follow it
and enforce it.”
The Pastor, 56-year-old Paul Horner, had his
lawyer speak to reporters on his behalf:
“We are currently disputing the guilty verdict and
I am confident my client will be a free man here
shortly,” said attorney Tom Downey.
“Horner was just using his best judgment
according to his rights and religious freedom in
this country.”
NBC reports that the Christian Proctor Church is
registered with the state as a “religious
corporation” limited to performing “one-man-
one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy
Bible.”
But the church is also registered as a for-profit
business and city officials said that means the
owners must comply with state and federal
regulations.
Steve Shand, president of the Vermont Family
Research Committee, said it is “open season on
Americans who refuse to bow to the
government’s redefinition of marriage.”
“Homosexuals are g#y,” Shand told reporters.
“Why should Christian ministers be forced to
perform and celebrate any marriage that conflicts
with their beliefs? It’s a slippery slope my friend.
Pretty soon these same pastors will be forced to
wed animals or kitchen appliances. This is not
my America!”
But one Gwen Hawkins who is president of the
LGBT Pride Center said she is happy with the
court.
“We just want the same rights as everyone else
and this guilty verdict sets a great precedent,”
Hawkins said.
“These fanatical Christians base their life on one
verse in the Bible but they seem to forget the
other 99% of the verses in the book. For
example, why can’t we stone to death Bristol
Palinfor having a baby out of wedlock? And what
about her mother, Sarah Palin, breaking the rules
of Corinthians 14:34 which clearly state that as
a woman, she is not allowed to teach or to
assume authority over a man; she must be
quiet. But no, they like to pick the one verse in
the Bible about gay people and build their camp
around it,” reports NBC.
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