New York, USA - Senate Republicans who say they are undecided about their stance on gay marriage are pushing for more assurances of legal protections for Catholic charities and other religious institutions that refuse to recognize same-sex couples.
The Republican concerns suggest a shift in the debate toward the wording of legislation and the extent to which religious safeguards are explicitly spelled out in statute. The same questions about religious freedom have flared in other statehouses that ultimately adopted same-sex marriage laws with provisions to insulate religious groups and their services from legal exposure.
"It has to have real religious protections in it," said Greg Ball, a Hudson Valley Republican who is among about a half dozen Senate Republicans thought to be potential yes votes on a bill.
But the issue is also troubling to some gay rights activists, who say fears about religious liberties have tended to be alarmist and been used by objecting lawmakers as an excuse for denying votes.
"This is about state government issuing licenses. That's all it is, nothing more, nothing less," said Democratic assemblyman Danny O'Donnell, the lead sponsor of a gay-marriage bill that most recently passed the Assembly in 2009. "The opponents are trying to interject religious freedom into an issue where it doesn't belong."
Mr. Ball said he's raised his concerns directly with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a moderate, upstate Democrat who supports gay marriage, in a conversation three days ago. A spokeswoman for Ms. Gillibrand didn't respond for comment on Sunday.
Mr. Ball, a freshman senator with libertarian leanings, said he plans to talk about the issue of bill language in Albany this week with Catholic officials and the Cuomo administration, which has been urging the Senate to pass a bill before lawmakers go on break in late June.
"There has been zero dialogue about fundamentally protecting religious institutions and promoting equal rights," said Mr. Ball. "There are many members who are not going to be voting for a piece of legislation that shuts down Catholic services or adoption agencies."
In other states, religious freedom has been a thorny issue for lawmakers, gay-rights advocates and opponents. Vermont and Connecticut, which recognize gay marriages, have also added religious protection clauses.
Proposed marriage bills in Albany have stated that no clergyman or minister would be forced to solemnize a same-sex union. And New York's human-rights law, which makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation with respect to housing and employment, includes an exemption to protect the "religious principles" of church-affiliated charities.
But church officials say their concerns are rooted in precedent. They point to cases, such as one in New Mexico—which doesn't allow gay marriage—in which the state's human-rights commission fined a wedding photographer $6,600 for refusing to work at a lesbian ceremony. And they cite a decision by Catholic Charities of Boston in 2006 to end adoption services instead of complying with a state law prohibiting the exclusion of same-sex applicants.
"While we will always oppose redefining marriage, a key side issue is protecting our religious liberty and the religious liberty of individuals," Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, the policy arm of New York Catholic bishops.