Beto O’Rourke: Religious Institutions Will Lose Tax Exemption If They Oppose Same-Sex Marriage

During the broadcast of CNN’s town hall on LGBTQ issues on Thursday, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) said religious institutions that do not agree with same-sex marriage would lose their tax-exempt status under his presidency.

Don Lemon asked, “This is from your LGBTQ plan. This is what you write. Freedom of religion is a fundamental right, but it should not be used to discriminate. Do you think religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities, should they lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage?

O’Rourke said, “Yes. 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 human rights.”

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