...surprise surprise... [quote] Today, Alabama’s House Judiciary Committee advanced H.B. 56, which allows probate judges and public officials to cite a religious reason for denying marriage licenses, putting interfaith couples, interracial couples, same-sex couples and unions where one partner is a divorcee at risk. HRC Alabama strongly condemns the legislation, which opens the door to a wave of lawsuits. “H.B. 56 does not represent Alabama values like fairness and loving your neighbor as yourself. The bill’s foundation is rooted in a motivation to discriminate,” said HRC Alabama state director R. Ashley Jackson. “H.B. 56 will open the door to a wave of unintended consequences for countless Alabamians, and we strongly urge members of the Alabama House to reject the bill.” The bill would also allow a religiously-affiliated hospital or other institution to refuse to recognize marriages it disagrees with. This would empower a religious hospital to refuse to allow a legally-married spouse to make medical decisions for their incapacitated partner—or allow a religiously-affiliated university to refuse to provide appropriate tax documents to an employee who has divorced or remarried. [/quote] Looks like someone's going to need to drag Alabama kicking and screaming into the 21st century.