After Same-Sex Ruling, Tennessee Official Asks Congress To ‘Protect Religious Freedoms’

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery is warning that the Internal Revenue Service could try to strip the tax-exempt status of religious organizations that oppose same-sex marriage.

He and 14 other state attorneys general have sent a letter to Congress, urging members to pass legislation protecting their status in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling.

“Protecting the religious freedoms of our state’s citizens is a serious matter,” Slatery said in a press release, ”and we encourage members of Congress to take the necessary steps to preclude the IRS from targeting religious groups in any way.”

The five-page letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, raises questions that go far beyond same-sex weddings.

The attorneys general say religious institutions — like universities — need to be protected from the threat of losing their nonprofit status if they refuse to recognize same-sex couples as being married.

They cite a 1983 case, in which the Supreme Court ruled Bob Jones University in South Carolina could be excluded from charitable exemptions because of its segregationist policies. They also note that an attorney for the Obama administration, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., conceded during oral arguments before the Supreme Court in April that the tax-exempt status of religious organizations likely would be questioned if justices ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.

Losing tax-exempt status wouldn’t just affect the institutions, Slatery and his colleagues note. Taxpayers might not be able to write off their donations to those institutions, either.

Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, says these are legitimate questions.

“Since marriage is so woven into state and federal law, both codes, we’re going to see these kinds of issues pop up again and again,” he says. “It’s going to take a long time for people to realize the full impact of the Supreme Court ruling.”

Sanders says Congress eventually should extend federal civil rights laws until they cover sexual orientation and gender identity.

But Slatery and his colleagues say Congress should instead step in to defend religious rights — even when the views held are out of favor.