The Wyoming judge who refuses to marry
gay and lesbian couples is defending her actions by comparing
homosexuality to alcoholism.
The Wyoming judicial ethics commission
recommended that Ruth Neely be removed from the bench after remarks
she made in a local paper. The state's Supreme Court is expected to
rule on the matter.
Neely told the Pinedale Roundup
that she would “not be able to do” same-sex ceremonies.
“When law and religion conflict,
choices have to be made,” she said.
Neely defended her views in a letter to
the state's judicial ethics advisory committee, saying that
homosexuality is a sin in the Bible and that she “can no more
officiate at a same-sex wedding than [she] can buy beer for the
alcoholic.”
The commission has recommended that
Neely step down as a Pinedale magistrate and municipal court judge,
the latter of which does not involve marriage ceremonies.
Neely's lawyer called the commission's
recommendation “extreme.”
“It claims that because Judge Neely's
religious beliefs prevent her from solemnizing same-sex marriage, she
cannot be a judge in Wyoming, even in a position that does not have
authority to perform marriages,” the
lawyer said.