Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, strongly condemned a shameful order from Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore saying the state’s probate judges “have a ministerial duty” not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming a nationwide right to marriage equality.
“Yet again, Chief Justice Roy Moore is flagrantly defying the rule of law, and empowering those who wish to stand between same-sex couples and their constitutional right to marry the person they love,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Regardless of what Roy Moore says, marriage equality is the law of the land. His obstructionists tactics tarnish the reputation of the great state of Alabama, and we urge all of the state’s probate judges to issue licenses to same-sex couples, as is their duty under the law. Moore’s personal opinions are not at issue here. As a judge, he has an obligation to follow the law. If he refuses to do so, he should be removed from office.”
Claiming the Supreme Court did not specifically address Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage in the historic Obergefell v. Hodges case, Moore justified his unconscionable position by quoting a state law that says he can "take affirmative and appropriate action to correct or alleviate any condition or situation adversely affecting the administration of justice within the state."
