Check out the video looking at three town clerks whose religious convictions are coming into conflict with New York’s gay “marriage” law and what our own Rev. McGuire has to say about it.
LEDYARD, N.Y. Gay marriage has been legal in New York for a little more than four months but it has already led to a crisis of conscience for some public workers.
Since gay marriage became official July 24, two town clerks have resigned because they refused to sign licenses for same-sex couples.
Another clerk has assigned the duty to a deputy.
Now, some residents are looking to remove that clerk from office with a write-in campaign in the Nov. 8 election.
Enduring the Heat
Ledyard is a farming town in upstate New York, home to about 2,000 people. Some often leave during the winter to escape the severe cold.
Rose Marie Belforti braves the cold as a dairy farmer. But as Ledyard’s town clerk, she has been enduring the heat of criticism from gay rights groups.
The Christian wife and mother opposes gay marriage. So when leaders legalized gay marriage last summer, Belforti assigned all marriage licensing duties to a deputy in her office.
“Once in a while in your life you have to stand up for Christ and this is my turn,” she said during a recent interview with CBN News.
“I have given over the whole duty of the marriage application process, including heterosexual marriages,” Belforti explained. “So, I am not doing any of them because I really do want to be fair to everyone.”
“So that way, nobody has to go to the back of the bus. So everybody is going to make an appointment and there will be a deputy to make sure they get what they need,” she added.
The Ledyard Town Hall issues fewer than seven marriage licenses a year. Still, Belforti’s move has angered some residents.
Ledyard resident Ed Easter has launched a write-in campaign to remove her from the position she has held for 10 years.
One lesbian couple has also threatened to file a lawsuit.
Read More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/November/Town-Clerks-Bullied-over-NY-Gay-Marriage-Law-/