A Kentucky county judge refused to officiate a couple's wedding after they requested he respect their lack of religious beliefs, the Friendly Atheist reported.
Trigg County Judge/Executive Hollis Alexander confirmed that he turned away Mandy Heath and her fiancee when Heath went to file the necessary paperwork at the local courthouse on the day before their wedding.
"I will be unable to perform your wedding ceremony," said Alexander, who also refuses to perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. "I include God in my ceremonies and I won’t do one without."
However, Alexander's objections have already been met with criticism from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has already contacted him.
"You have no right to impose your personal religious beliefs on people seeking to be married. Governments in this nation, including the Commonwealth of Kentucky, are secular," the group's letter read. "They do not have the power to impose religion on citizens. The bottom line is that by law, there must be a secular option for people seeking to get married. In Trigg County, you are that secular option."
