The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit that fights religious influence on public policy, has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn a Texas law prohibiting anyone but religious leaders and judges from conducting wedding ceremonies.
Under Texas’ family code, only “officiants associated with organized religion” and state or federal judges can legally officiate marriages.
In its suit, filed last week at U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, CFI argues the law discriminates against nonreligious people who wish to have unions formalized in nonsecular ceremonies. What’s more, the statute discriminates against nonreligious people who wish to officiate such ceremonies, the filing argues.
“Human rights are universal and should not be predicated on one’s religious belief or nonbelief,” CFI General Counsel Richard Conn said in a statement about the case. “Requiring religious affiliation in order to celebrate a marriage in Texas — and imposing criminal penalties on those who would choose otherwise — turns nonbelievers into second-class citizens. We believe this statutory requirement is unconstitutional and must be changed.”
CFI filed the suit on behalf of Eric McCutchan, a Tarrant County resident who’s served as a certified “Secular Celebrant of weddings since 2014.” The petition names Mary Louise Nicholson, Tarrant’s clerk, and Phil Sorrells, its district attorney, as defendants.
Nicholson’s office didn’t respond to the Current‘s inquiry by press time. However, in an emailed statement, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said the plaintiffs made no allegations of wrongdoing against county officials.
“These plaintiffs brought nearly identical allegations against Dallas County in 2021 and their lawsuit was dismissed by the court,” the statement also said.
Indeed, CFI unsuccessfully challenged the Texas statute in 2021 in a federal suit dismissed by the notoriously conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
However, the organization won a 2014 federal court victory challenging a similar law in Indiana. In that case, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that nonreligious people have a right to have a wedding officiated by someone who shares their worldviews, including an embrace of secularity or atheism.
After winning other similar cases, CFI helped lay the groundwork for legislation Oregon enacted in 2017 to recognize secular wedding officiants.
Some who officiate secular wedding ceremonies in Texas do so by joining the Universal Life Church, a faith organization that ordains ministers via a quick online process and allows them to practice in “whatever manner they feel most comfortable.”
However, CFI argues that nonbelievers should be allowed full rights to have wedding ceremonies officiated without any religious trappings.
“This is a fundamental question of rights,” Conn said. “The law must not be allowed to discriminate based on religious belief or provide special privilege for believers over nonbelievers.”
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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.
