New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms' Courage Fund has released a new video series. Each of the videos tells the story of a town clerk impacted by New York's recently-enacted same-sex "marriage" law.

 
Laura Fotusky served as the Town Clerk in Barker, Broome County until same-sex "marriage" legislation was enacted. Laura knew that her religious convictions would not allow her to sign same-sex "marriage" licenses. At the time, Laura did not believe she had any other option than to resign. This is Laura's story.

Laura isn't the only clerk affected by this ill-conceived law. Ruth Sheldon was the Granby Town Clerk in Oswego County. She realized that as a Sunday school teacher she couldn't go into the classroom and tell her young students to obey God and then not do it herself. Believing she had no other option, Ruth resigned, rather than compromise her core values. This is Ruth's story.

Since these two early resignations, the Alliance Defense Fund has been an enormous help in producing a legal memo that outlines the religious freedoms rights of town clerks and other New Yorkers.
 
Rose Marie Belforti is the Town Clerk in Ledyard, Cayuga County. Belforti believes that signing same-sex "marriage" licenses violates her faith. Rose is exercising her right under State Law to have her religious convictions reasonably accommodated, while still assuring that the law is equally and indiscriminately upheld in her town. This is Rose's story.

Rev. Jason J. McGuire, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, said, "The reality is that these rural town clerks may only issue a handful of marriage licenses per year, some seven or eight, others fourteen or more. Contrast that with the number of dog licenses they issue (1200 or more in Granby), and you'll soon see that issuing marriage licenses is a very small part of their responsibilities. The state can easily accommodate a town clerk's religious convictions regarding marriage."
 
Each of the videos can also be viewed at CourageFund.org.