Gov. Bobby Jindal’s lawyer has asked a state district judge to throw out a lawsuit that challenges Jindal’s executive order offering special protections to people who oppose same-sex marriage.
Judge Todd Hernandez heard arguments in a hearing about Jindal’s request Monday but did not immediately rule.
Jindal’s “Marriage and Conscience” executive order prohibits state agencies under his control from denying licenses, benefits, contracts or tax deductions in response to actions taken because of someone’s “religious belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”
The governor, courting evangelical voters in his long-shot Republican presidential campaign, described the May 19 order as a protection of “religious liberty” for Christians who oppose same-sex marriage.
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Louisiana, the Forum for Equality Foundation and six New Orleans residents are seeking to have Jindal’s order declared unconstitutional.
