Episcopal News Service Reports on Prop8 Decision

I had a good conversation with Pat MaCaughan as she was preparing this article.    It includes a broad range of perspectives (including mine!)  You can also read it here.

 Reactions to the California Supreme Court’s 6-1 ruling to ban same-gender marriage but uphold the existing unions of 18,000 gay couples ran the gamut May 26, from anger and sadness to “profound disappointment” and support across the state’s Episcopal community.

The court’s decision reportedly sparked protest rallies across the nation as well as some parts of Canada from marriage equality supporters. They vowed to overturn the contentious Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” It was approved by 52 percent of those voting last November.

“We are far from the end of this struggle,” said Bishop Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California (which only covers part of the state), where an interfaith gathering of 300 on May 25 held a prayer vigil at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. “The Episcopal Church stands in solidarity with the disenfranchised,” Andrus said in a prepared statement.

Read more »

Slideshow of Marriage Equality Rallies in Sacramento

Supporting marriage equality after the CA Supreme Court upheld Prop8.  We started at the Gay/Lesbian Center then marched to the Capitol steps.

Faith Whitmore’s Invocation at the Rally

The Rev.  Faith Whitmore, from St. Mark’s Methodist Church, gave the invocation at yesterday’s rally protesting the Supreme Court’s decision upholding Prop 8.  Here’s what she said:

God of us all, known by many names and experienced through many faith traditions, we are here together, confident that we are all created in your image which is expansive and imaginative enough to include gay and lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and straight with all hues of skin colors and body shapes and sizes.  You have a wonderful sense of humor and tender heart O God, and here we are, diverse and wonderful reflections of You. 

 We also know you to be a God of justice and so we can’t help but believe that your heart broke with ours this morning as the decision of the Court was read.  We pray for strength along this journey as it is tiring and discouraging ~ but we know that justice shall prevail one day, albeit not this day.  We pray for the spirit of strength, justice, wisdom and  perseverance that infused so many  – people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.; Mary Tsukamoto, Harvey Milk – people who would not give up and people who would not let others take their joy, dignity, and faith away in the struggle for equality. 

I pray your grace and blessing be upon each of us and all of us together as we move forward, for there is much left to do – many conversations that still need to take place, wounds that need to be healed, hearts that need to be touched and marriages waiting to be celebrated, which have once again been put on hold.     

It seems so simple – your commandment that we should love one another…  help us, O God, to do ~ and allow ~ just that.  Amen.

Statement on Prop 8 being upheld by the California Supreme Court

I was at a gathering of people who are lesbian and gay and their supporters on May 26 at 10 a.m. when the Supreme Court of California announced its decision to uphold Proposition 8. While many of us were anticipating this outcome, the disappointment and sadness was profound. I felt it in my own heart. I am heartbroken that lesbian and gay couples have once again been relegated to second-class status. I’m sad that a great deal of effort that could be expended to fight other societal problems will be spent reclaiming the right for all people to be legally married. And I am deeply concerned by the precedent that a simple majority of voters can, through a ballot initiative, change California’s constitution to take away civil rights.

I am committed to work toward marriage equality for all people who are gay or lesbian. I am convinced that legal marriage between people of the same gender strengthens the institution of marriage and our society. I’m also convinced that it is the right and just thing. This justice delayed will not be justice denied forever. Marriage equality will happen in California. Unfortunately it will now take more time, energy and money.

I realize that not all people share my views. I think it is important to create space in our society for people to freely express different views and live with different values. I believe it is important that no religious body be penalized for limiting their marriage rites to opposite-sex couples. But at the same time, it is important that those who believe marriage should only be between a man and a woman not be able to limit the rights of others to marry whomever they choose.

My heart breaks for those who feel less welcome and less safe in our society because of today’s ruling. I look forward to the day when all God’s children are free to marry the person of their choosing and fully live into their God-given sexuality.

Brian Baker
Dean, Trinity Cathedral
Sacramento, California

Prop 8 Upheld

I was at a gathering of LGBT folks and their supporters in Sacramento when the decision was announced. It was what many of us anticipated/feared. But to get the news was very, very sad. Heartbreaking. And it is shocking that the Supreme Court would allow such a significant change to the Constitution to stand with just a simple majority on a ballot initiative. That’s scary!

There’s a rally at the Gay & Lesbian Center at 5:30, then a march to the Capitol at 6:30 followed by a rally on the Capitol steps.

Stonewall Democrats 4 Freedoms Award Dinner

Last night I received the Freedom of Worship award for my activities opposing Proposition 8 and supporting marriage equality. It was a great evening.

Sermon: Love One Another, 5/17/09

A cell phone rang quite loudly during this sermon. I ended up joking about it (I usually just ignore such disruptions.) I don’t know if the ringing got picked up by the sound system so you may only hear my comments.

New York Assembly Approves Same Sex Marriage

It now goes to the state senate. One of the things I found interesting in the NY Times article was the reason why two Republican leaders changed their minds and decided to vote in favor of same sex marriage

Despite the conservative pressure, two Republicans spoke on Tuesday about why they dropped their opposition to granting same-sex couples the right to marry. Three Democrats who voted no in 2007 switched their votes to yes.

“There’s that little voice inside of you that tells you when you’ve done something right, and when you’ve done something wrong,” said Fred W. Thiele Jr., a Republican who represents the Hamptons. “That vote just never felt right to me. That little voice kept gnawing away at me.”

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of history is long but it bends toward justice.”  This quotation illustrates how this happens.  Justice is True in an ultimate sense.  And there is a voice in us (I believe to be God) that calls us to that justice.  That voice eventually gets through to enough of us that things change.

A little further in the article we hear from the other representative:

Assemblywoman Janet L. Duprey said a lesbian couple who live on her street helped change her mind.

“They are asking only for equal protection under the law,” said Ms. Duprey, a Republican whose district along the Canadian border in the North Country overlaps with the Senate district of Elizabeth Little, another Republican who gay rights supporters believe is within reach.

“They deserve no less than to have the same rights and ability to share their love,” Ms. Duprey added.

This highlights how critically important out, visible gay couples are to this struggle.  When you are looking at a faithful, loving couple, it is hard to make the case that they should not be able to pledge themselves to each other for life, and be given the rights and responsibilities of marriage.

Sermon: The Ethiopian Eunuch, 5/10/09

Go Maine!!!

Maine becomes 5th state to allow same-sex marriage

By GLENN ADAMS

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators were also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor, who hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region’s sole holdout.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat who hadn’t indicated how he would handle his state’s bill, quickly signed it.

“In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,” Baldacci said in a statement read in his office. “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.”

Read it all HERE.