However, if the definition of marriage is changed, churches will NOT have the option of refusing to perform same-sex marriages. Any church which says, "We will marry *these* couples, but not *those* couples" will immediately be sued for descrimination.
That is absolutely not true. Churches refuse couples all the time with no legal recourse whatsoever. Churches can refuse to perform a marriage ceremony for any number of reasons, including, but not limited to, the couple's religious affiliation or their lack of participation in pre-marital councelling. The law does not require that churches perform marriage at all, let alone that they perform them for everyone. There is no reason to believe that refusing same-sex couples would give them any legal trouble at all.
The religion of one group should never be forced on the society as a whole. Our country was founded on the separation of church and state, and legally allowing same-sex couples to marry only strengthens that separation. A ban, however, treats same-sex couples as second class citizens under the law, and that's not the kind of country I want to live in.
~Anna
