Resigned to the political reality that gay marriage might soon become state law, several state lawmakers who are uncomfortable with gay marriage are calling for a broader exemption for churches that do not want religious facilities used for gay weddings.

The draft of a marriage equality bill being discussed at the state Capitol clearly states that the clergy and others have a constitutional right to refuse to perform gay marriages, a stronger declaration than is found in the state’s civil unions law. But some lawmakers contend the limited exemption for churches to decline to make religious facilities available for gay marriages, also modeled after the civil unions law, should be broader.

Under the draft, churches could decline to make religious facilities available if the churches restrict weddings to members and do not operate the facilities as for-profit businesses. Churches with religious facilities that are considered public accommodations would not be able to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Several churches allow couples that are not members to use religious facilities to commemorate their wedding vows. Couples purchase packages that can include ministers, organists, singers and the use of cathedrals, sanctuaries and chapels.

The tension is between competing rights: the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion and the Fifth and 14th Amendment’s rights to due process and equal protection.

State Rep. Sharon Har (D, Kapolei-Makakilo), a Christian who opposes gay marriage, is among several lawmakers who maintain the draft "does not provide the protections that the churches are seeking," adding, "With the current language, you’re still mandating that church facilities as well as clergy be forced into supporting marriages that go against their religious beliefs."

Two Oahu churches filed a federal lawsuit challenging the civil unions law, contending that, despite the limited religious exemption, churches could be forced to make religious facilities available for civil unions. But the suit was dismissed last year after a federal judge ruled the churches did not have standing because no one had approached the churches to hold civil union ceremonies.

Attorneys for religious groups have already predicted legal challenges if a gay marriage law does not include a broader religious exemption for churches.

For guidance, some lawmakers are researching the religious exemptions in gay marriage laws that have been approved in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

One suggestion, some have said privately, would be to ensure that no churches or related charities or educational groups would be required to "provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization or celebration of any marriage" if it violates sincere religious beliefs.

Some lawmakers have also asked House leadership to wait until after a study on marriage equality that was commissioned by the Legislature is completed before moving a gay marriage bill.

A task force was given until November to study the social, economic and religious impacts of marriage equality, information that could be used to draft a gay marriage bill when the Legislature opens in January.

The resolution that created the task force stated, among other things, that the Legislature wants to ensure that marriage equality includes protections for clergy and religious institutions.

House democrats are meeting Wednesday to discuss a potential special session on gay marriage that could be held in September or October, before the study is completed.

Gay rights advocates contend the state’s public accommodations law offers little room for lawmakers to go much beyond a limited exemption for churches.

Some religious leaders, like politicians, are evolving on marriage equality.

Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai‘i said that couples who want to be married by a priest at an Episcopal church do not have to be Episcopalian, but at least one in the pair must be a baptized Christian. The same standard applies to civil unions, which the church considers blessings.

For example, the Rev. William Albinger Jr. of Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Lahaina officially solemnizes civil unions under state law in ceremonies that are recorded by the church as blessings.

Fitzpatrick said the church’s policies on the use of religious facilities — such as Japanese couples who reserve St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Honolulu for vow re-enactments — are "nondiscriminatory."

The limited exemption for churches in the draft gay marriage bill appears to protect churches, such as Catholic churches, that have more restrictive policies on the use of religious facilities for weddings by members.

"This is all part of who we are," said the Very Rev. Gary Secor, the vicar general of the Diocese of Honolulu. "So it’s just our presumption and our hope that our religious freedoms and that understanding of marriage that we have would be respected in terms of our facilities."

However, Catholic leaders would prefer a broader religious exemption to make certain that religious freedom is protected for all church-related facilities.

"We’re law-abiding, so we’re not going to violate the law," Secor said. "But, of course, our preference would be not to implicitly support an activity that we feel is wrong by extending the use of our facility.

"In some cases, if we have a facility that is not exclusively used for a church purpose, we could have some issues with that."