Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she would not punish religious institutions that oppose gay marriage by taxing them, separating herself from fellow Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.
O’Rourke said last week that religious institutions opposed to gay marriage should lose their tax-exempt status and said he would make doing so a priority. O’Rourke’s proposal sparked concern among Democrats that his remarks would mobilize religious Trump voters by fostering fears a Democratic candidate would target churches if elected to the presidency. Now Warren, tied for front-runner with former Vice President Joe Biden in primary polls, is rejecting O’Rourke’s proposal.
Warren campaign spokeswoman Saloni Sharma told the Associated Press in an email the senator “will stand shoulder to shoulder with the LGBTQ+ community” to fight “fear of discrimination and violence” but would not undo the tax-exempt status of religious organizations that oppose gay marriage.
“Religious institutions in America have long been free to determine their own beliefs and practices, and she does not think we should require them to conduct same-sex marriages in order to maintain their tax-exempt status,” said Sharma.
Warren is the second Democratic candidate to break from O’Rourke. On Sunday, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is gay, said he was unsure O’Rourke “understood the implications of what he was saying.”
Buttigieg said taxing churches, mosques, and other religious organizations is “just going to deepen the divisions we are already experiencing.”
