SB 906 should not protect tax exemption for churches refusing to perform same-sex marriages

In a letter dated last February, when tensions were high and the word “racist” was tossed about like a volleyball, UC President Yudof wrote that the “stewards of free speech” must take a stand against all things offensive. Many a devil’s advocate (myself included) happily objected, citing our inalienable right to insult.

Yet the sentiments of UC administrators were in the right place ““ a public institution ought not approve of intolerance. Such would be contrary to the very idea of a public institution and certainly to whatever constitutes the public’s interest.

So when churches assert their God-given right to discriminate, it becomes a curious case of tolerating intolerance. The California legislature just last month passed SB 906, a bill protecting clergy who refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

Any honest ally of the First Amendment would approve, but the way by which the bill does so ““ protecting discriminatory churches’ tax exemption ““ is at odds with any earnest wish to end bigotry. Sadly, things are not so peachy once the public’s tolerance of prejudice turns into financial support.

The author of the bill, Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), no doubt has noble intentions. He said the bill “puts into statute the certainty of freedom of religion and eliminates any argument against marriage equality.”

On his website, he sells the bill as an affirmation of clergy members’ freedom to refuse marriages “contrary to their faith” ““ which is a nice way of saying to discriminate. And same-sex couples need not feel lonely; interracial, interfaith and similar heresies are all fair game.

All of which is fine and dandy, if only for the handsome fact that freedom of expression includes the right to be wrong.

But if an institution prospers off the public’s purse, surely its practice must serve that public’s interest. And while any sensible American should doubt whether religion-in-itself is a public good, it is quite painfully obvious that discrimination is not.

Oddly enough, “eliminating prejudice and discrimination” is listed alongside religion in the Internal Revenue Code’s reasons for tax-exemption.

If even private sector prejudice so patently offends, why should federally supported, institutionalized discrimination be given leeway on the grounds of “God said so?” This is a tax issue masquerading as a free speech issue. Or, more bluntly: tax evasion masquerading as a public service.

Whether a place of worship accepts or damns to hell anyone is no one’s business but its own. But when the public’s funds enable discrimination to go on, it’s everyone’s problem. To defend a church’s right to discriminate is to defend the noblest of American principles; to defend that right along with their tax exemption is to reward discrimination.

And that doesn’t sound very savory to this humble heretic. Whatever our contentions, President Yudof and I share one noteworthy opinion: that prejudice has no place with the public. We find ourselves, queerly, in the company of the IRS, which in 1983 revoked the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University for precisely the same thing SB 906 allows ““ faith-sanctioned discrimination.

Our campus, too, is unquestionably host to a profusion of colors, creeds and, of course, prejudices. But when our administrators rightly reviled intolerance, they set a model for how the public ought to treat bigotry: unamused and unashamed.

It is true that with the countless groups and clubs that spot this school, not all can claim to represent the institution’s views. Indeed, this plurality of views serves the principal function as a stage for differing voices. We accept this on the grounds that students pay their fees and groups promote diversity.

But imagine, now, that you’re in charge of a student group dispensing prejudice with your time. Upon the administration’s discovery of your racket, you not only defend your right to discriminate but demand your student fees be waived as well.

Something tells me this wouldn’t fly. Though it seems religious institutions get a free pass on this one in our happy Golden State.