Rights Collide as Town Clerk Sidesteps Role in Gay Marriages

[Ohio Joe]

LEDYARD, N.Y. — Rose Marie Belforti is a 57-year-old cheese maker, the elected town clerk in this sprawling Finger Lakes farming community and a self-described Bible-believing Christian. She believes that God has condemned homosexuality as a sin, so she does not want to sign same-sex marriage licenses; instead, she has arranged for a deputy to issue all marriage licenses by appointment.

But when a lesbian couple who own a farm near here showed up at the town hall last month, the women said they were unwilling to wait.

Now Ms. Belforti is at the heart of an emerging test case, as national advocacy groups look to Ledyard for an answer to how the state balances a religious freedom claim by a local official against a civil rights claim by a same-sex couple.

Ms. Belforti, represented by a Christian legal advocacy group based in Arizona, the Alliance Defense Fund, is arguing that state law requires New York to accommodate her religious beliefs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/nyregion/rights-clash-as-town-clerk-rejects-her-role-in-gay-marriages.html

Stupid fucking headline, this is not about "rights collideing", this is about a town clerk that is breaking the law. This woman is trying to claim that her religious beliefs trump the law. She is also using the 'I'm not trashing gays, I'm just exercising my religous right to be a bigot' excuse.

oh... and here is some contact info for Ledyard NY, where this happened:

http://www.co.cayuga.ny.us/ledyard/index.html

Not a lot of contact info but this crazy lady is listed, let her know what you think:

Rose Marie Belforti, Town Clerk, at
Town Building
1099 Poplar Ridge Road
Aurora, NY 13026
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

There is also a contact for Justice... Though they seem to have a funny idea of it:

Justice Phone: [phone]
Justice Email:[e-mail]


And here are some folks getting a petition together for the Ledyard town supervisor to either get the crazy lady to quit or fire her.

http://www.pfaw.org/press-releases/2011/09/ledyard-new-york-town-board-fails-to-uphold-ny-marriage-equality-act

[MADem]

1. Ms Belforti has the "right" to either retire/quit her job. She can either do what she's paid to do,

or go fuck herself.

She's not handicapped--there can be no "special accommodation" for her in any way, shape or form.

Either do the job you are paid to do, or step aside and let the town hire someone who will.

[Rabblevox]

2. She is an idiot who is not performing her job, and should be fired immediately. /nt

[FiveGoodMen]

7. A-fucking-men!

[RainDog]

3. It looks like she may need to find another job if her religion puts her at odds with civil rights

who knows how many racists decided to go into other jobs when schools were desegrated? I have no idea if people left teaching b/c they were bigots, but if they weren't willing to do their job, even tho their pastors told them it was okay to be racist, doesn't seem like they would've had a right to keep that job.

[petronius]

4. The town probably is required to make a reasonable accommodation, and it

did (despite the bigoted nature of her 'need') - by letting her have someone else do the signing. But when that accommodation breaks down for some reason, she needs to do her job, or quit (or be fired)...

[hedgehog]

5. I'm in the next county over, and our town clerk is resigning over this. Good!

If she is unwilling to fulfill the requirements of the position, there are plenty of other people to take over!

[saras]

6. Does she do this for EVERYTHING in the Bible equally?

If not, she's not really Christian, just a bigot using Christianity as a tool.

[louslobbs]

10. Do any of them saras?

Lou

[jberryhill]

8. Blessed are the cheese makers /nt

[louslobbs]

9. This is not Ms Belforti's Church, this is our country and it makes rules and laws that even holier

than thou types like Ms. Belforti must follow. I suggest she stick to cheese making and prayer if she likes, but she should stop using her alleged belief in a god, and her bigoted religious views, to sit in judgment of others. She seems to feel, that her religious views, give her the right to trample on the freedoms and rights of others, that her religious views trump our laws and that she is free to express her hatred for others while she hides behind the robes of her allegedly "all powerful" god, believing that she is among the righteous. She preaches her bigotry according to her interpretation of her god's alleged word, in a way that she thinks allows her to discriminate against others, she believes that she is right, because (what a surprise), she has "god" on her side. Those like Ms Belforti, who think that this country is their church, should put down their bibles for a moment and read some of the documents that pertain to the rights guaranteed to all American citizens in the Constitution and its Amendments, (The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.") there are other books Ms. Belforti, other papers and documents......I suggest you educate yourself and read some of those. "Imagine no possessions and no religion too" (John Lennon)........there really is a separation of church and state Ms Belforti. One final thing Ms. Belforti, had you been working for me, I'd have given you one warning regarding your behavior, any further resistance or insubordination of any kind
after that, would have resulted in your immediate termination, allowing you more time to pray, make cheese, and sit in judgment of others.
Lou

[Ohio Joe]

13. Well said - +1 - nt

[louslobbs]

14. Thank you. n/t

Lou

[steve2470]

11. I can see her becoming famous on Faux News sigh nt

[louslobbs]

12. I see her becoming another infamous religious zealot who picks and chooses what to follow

and preach about out of her bible, and what to conveniently ignore. She will be labeled as just another religious nut with an agenda like so many others before her.
Lou