Ethics committee: Ariz. judges cannot turn away gay couples who want to marry

PHOENIX — Arizona judges who perform wedding ceremonies in Arizona are being told that they cannot turn away gay couples who want to marry.

An opinion issued by a state judiciary ethics advisory committee said rejecting same-sex couples would violate a judicial-conduct rule against bias or prejudice based on sexual orientation.

Gay marriage became legal in Arizona last October.

Arizona’s guidance marked the first time a state has issued a public, formal opinion on same-sex weddings to judges, said Cynthia Gray, director of a judicial ethics unit of the National Center for State Courts.

However, Gray noted that Washington state in 2013 admonished a judge who said he wouldn’t perform same-sex marriages and that a North Carolina courts administrator in October told magistrates that they were duty-bound to marry same-sex couples.

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More recently, legislatures in states such as Alabama and North Carolina are considering “religious freedom” bills to allow judges to opt out of performing same-sex marriages.

Arizona so far is not among those states, but the head of a powerful lobby for social conservatives said it objects to the decision and is looking at options that include asking the committee to reconsider the opinion. The same group was behind a failed bill last year in the Arizona Legislature that allowed business owners to refuse to serve gays in the name of religion.

Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, said the opinion tramples on judges’ religious rights and was approved without public comment.

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