A Wyoming Republican has introduced a bill which seeks to allow citizens, including government officials, to deny services if doing so conflicts with their religious beliefs.

Sate Representative Nathan Winters' Religious Restoration Act prohibits the government from placing a burden on a person's exercise of religion or moral conscience.

“They're free from oppression of government if they choose to exercise freedom of conscience,” Winters said.

Winters, also a pastor, gave only one example of how his bill would apply to religious people: county clerks who claim to object to marriage equality based on their faith would be allowed to deny marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples who sought them.

Winters' bill would also allow people to sue the government for placing a burden on their religious freedom without a “compelling government interest.”

Gay and lesbian couples started marrying in October after a federal judge struck down Wyoming's ban as unconstitutional.