Does this new law protect religious freedom?

It’s important to recognize that lots of faith communities want to have the freedom to PERFORM marriages for gay and lesbian couples.  So Maine’s new marriage law actually will provide a religious freedom that churches and synagogues and other religious communities do not currently have. 

For faith communities that don’t want to recognize gay and lesbian marriages, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. 

• No minister has ever been required to perform any marriage that s/he disapproves of, and that will not change. 
• Religious communities and institutions are not bound by anti-discrimination laws in employment or housing now, and that will not change. 

People will be free to follow the teachings of their faith, just as they are now.  This principle is so important to the people of Maine that it is written into the marriage law just passed by our legislature and signed by Governor Baldacci.