In response to the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) clearing a major barrier to passage in the Senate yesterday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) promoted a conspiracy theory attacking equal rights for LGBTQ people.
She shared a tweet from someone who claimed to have read the bill and said that the RFMA will give the IRS the power to revoke the tax-exempt statuses of churches that refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
That is not in the bill at all. The bill doesn’t even mention the IRS and it’s not going to supersede the U.S. Constitution, which protects churches’ rights to not perform any ritual they don’t want to perform.
“Well done!” Greene responded. “This is what it looks like when people read the actual bills instead of the headlines, you actually find out the truth and why Members like me vote NO.”
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“It’s not about gay marriage, it’s about Christian persecution.”
Well done!
This is what it looks like when people read the actual bills instead of the headlines, you actually find out the truth and why Members like me vote NO.
It’s not about gay marriage, it’s about Christian persecution. https://t.co/XC2WWSup7p— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 17, 2022
Greene is completely wrong about the RFMA, which got a thumbs-up from the conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints earlier this week. The church is opposed to same-sex marriage but said that the RFMA will “preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom.”
Since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states in 2015 with its Obergefell v. Hodges decision, no church has been forced to perform a marriage for a same-sex couple. The RFMA ensures that some of the rights same-sex couples enjoy when it comes to marriage will be preserved if the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell.
People on Twitter called Greene a liar for promoting the conspiracy theory that allowing same-sex couples to get married is “Christian persecution.”
Member of congress quote tweeting a right wing social media grifter…lol. So on brand.
— Stephanie Kallio (@stephaniekallio) November 17, 2022
Not even 8AM and the lying has started.
— PC (@PC41563323) November 17, 2022
You’re out of your f..king mind. Same sex marriage has nothing to do with, as you say, Christian persecution. Once again, the republicans have become so pathetically weak, they gave @RepMTG a leadership role.
— Willie 🇺🇸 (@LivingWillie) November 17, 2022
Not that I'd really expect a State Representative to be familiar with the US Bill of Rights, but there's this bit about the separation of church and state?
The first clause in the Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
— Joshua@Seattle (@JoshuaSeattle1) November 17, 2022
I’m currently laughing my ass off that you think that gay marriage is about Christian persecution, Marjorie. Take your propaganda elsewhere.
— Lara reads banned books in Florida (@MadeInTheUSANJ) November 17, 2022
No, it’s about faux-Cristians in Congress like you vowing to make same-sex marriage illegal nationally.
You said that is what you want at a Herschel Walker campaign event.
It’s about Republicans & SCOTUS trying to take away another civil right and turn this into a theocracy. https://t.co/vqBv1hcsQz— 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐳𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫🌻 (@Snozz_Wanger) November 17, 2022
Raise your hand if you think that Marjorie Taylor Greene should be removed from office immediately. 🤚
— Lara reads banned books in Florida (@MadeInTheUSANJ) November 17, 2022
Well, stop persecuting us then, you so called Christian.
— Siobhan! 🏳️⚧️ (@MeddlingMonkee) November 17, 2022
Other conservative politicians, pundits, and activists are freaking out about the possibility that, even if the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell, the RFMA will require the federal government and other states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed by any state.
Calling it the “so-called Respect for Marriage Act,” Tony Perkins of the hate group Family Research Council said that the Senate “is making a mockery of marriage as it tramples on a foundational right – religious freedom of the individual.”
“Regardless of the action of Congress, there are millions of Americans who will remain steadfast in their love for their fellow human being, by remaining committed to these truths: that marriage is ordained by God, and men and women are created in His image.”
And Eugene Delgaudio of Public Advocate of the United States attacked the 12 Republican senators who voted in favor of the RFMA in an email blast to followers.
“I’m afraid the Destruction of Marriage Act has passed it’s [sic] most effective [sic] hurtle [sic],” he wrote, calling the 12 Republican senators “RINO Traitors.” “RINO” means “Republican In Name Only.”
“Every single one of these senators voted to end the pro-Family Filibuster and gave Chuck Schumer the supermajority he needed,” Delgaudio continued. “If they had not supported this bill, it would have died in the Senate.”
“But have no doubt, those 12 senators just stabbed pro-Family America in the back.”
