Beto O'Rourke says churches that oppose same-sex marriage should lose their tax exemption: 'There can be no reward, no benefit'
- Beto O'Rourke vowed churches that oppose same-sex marriages will lose their tax exemption status if he becomes president
- 'There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution' that opposes it, he told an LGBTQ town hall meeting
- O'Rourke and other Democratic presidential candidates took part in a town hall series on LGBTQ issues sponsored by CNN and the Human Rights Campaign
- O'Rourke also said he would outlaw conversion therapy, calling it 'torture'
Beto O'Rourke vowed Thursday night that churches that oppose same-sex marriages will lose their tax exemption status if he becomes president.
'There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us. And so as president, we're going to make that a priority and we are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans,' he said at an LGBTQ town hall.
Churches are granted tax exempt status by the IRS if they meet a selection of criteria.
Beto O'Rourke vowed churches that oppose same-sex marriages will lose their tax exemption status if he becomes president
Protesters of gay marriage outside the Supreme Court in 2013 when the court was hearing a case on the Defense of Marriage Act
The criteria make no mention of same-sex marriage but include institutions that 'are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals,' according to section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.
That code would have to be revised to implement O'Rourke's plan.
O'Rourke and other Democratic presidential candidates took part in a town hall series Thursday night on LGBTQ issues, sponsored by CNN and the Human Rights Campaign.
O'Rourke also said he would outlaw conversion therapy, calling it 'tantamount to torture.'
'This is tantamount to torture, a torture that we're visiting on children who are absolutely defenseless,' he said.
O'Rourke has pushed a number of attention-getting controversies in recent weeks as his presidential campaign has sunk in the polls.
He drew the most attention for his promise in the last Democratic presidential debate when he vowed 'hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.'
President Donald Trump argued his words threatened a gun legislation deal on Capitol Hill and a Texas state lawmaker threatened to come after him.
O'Rourke reiterated that vow at the town hall Thursday night.
'In standing up against intolerance and hatred and homophobia, we also need to disarm it,' he said. 'So that means universal background checks, red flag laws, so that someone who has a firearm and poses a danger to themselves or someone else, is stopped before it's too late.'
Beto O'Rourke, with CNN's Don Lemon, took part of an LGBTQ town hall with other Democratic presidential candidates
He also talked about his gun buy-back proposal.
'Ending the sale of weapons designed exclusively for use on a battlefield, and I'm talking about AR-15s and AK-47s,' he said, adding: 'In addition, knowing that there are 16 million AR-15s and AK-47s out there, we must buy back each and every single one of them, because they are potential instruments of terror.'
O'Rourke has clarified that - despite saying 'we are going to take your AR-15s' - there would be no door-to-door searches if he got elected and banned the assault weapons.
Instead, he would expect Americans to voluntarily turn their weapons over.
'It’s expecting Americans to follow the law. And I know that they will,' he told MSNBC in September.
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