Equality and the Marriage License

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Equality and the Marriage License
General Synod 27 - June 27, 2009
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Expectations

• Raise important questions
• Engage in respectful conversations
• Deepen our understandings

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Workshop road map

• Marriage equality update
• Whats next
• A new national campaignRefuse to Sign
• QA, Discussion

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Sacred space

• Can we agree that in this workshop we will
• respect each other
• listen carefully to what others say
• speak for ourselves
• honor confidentiality

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Sacred space

• Prayer
• O God, we gather to celebrate your gift of love.
  We give thanks that we have experienced your
  love through the life-giving love of Jesus
  Christ. Help us to recognize your presence in our
  midst that we may hear and discern how your are
  still speaking to us about marriage.
• more ?

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Sacred space

• Infuse us with your vision of justice and your
  spirit of compassion. Bless us with open minds
  and listening hearts. May all that we do this
  day, and from this day forward, be grounded in
  your love for each of us and your world. Amen.

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General Synod

• On July 4, 2005, the 25th General Synod
• of the United Church of Christ
• adopted a resolution
• In Support of Marriage Equality for All
• sent by the Southern California Nevada
  Conference

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In Support of Marriage Equality for All

• equal marriage rights regardless of gender
• government should not interfere
• equal access to the basic rights
• end to rhetoric that fuels hostility
• engage in serious, respectful, and prayerful
  discussion

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In Support of Marriage Equality for All

• wedding policies that do not discriminate
• support local, state and national legislation,
  and
• work against legislation, including
  constitutional amendments, which denies civil
  marriage rights to couples based on gender

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Marriage in civil society

• A battle ground for civil rights - courts
• Womens rights
• Dont have to stay in failed or abusive
  relationships.
• Women are no longer legally subordinate to men
  (84).
• Abolished the marital rape exemption.

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Marriage in civil society

• Government cant intrude
• Bedroom
• Contraception
• Consensual sexual relationship
• Freedom and Choice
• Race
• Gender?
• These issues were just as contested as the issue
  of marriage equality is today.

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Marriage in civil society

• Equal protection couple and children
• Full faith and credit across state lines
  (currently only in some states)
• Separation of church and state
• State cannot force the church to marry anyone
• State recognition of marriage performed by the
  church (Anti-miscegenation, CA Catholic Ch.
  30s)
• Church as agent of the state, marriage license

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Marriage in civil society

• Equality Under the Law
• Many same sex couples seek equal status with
  their peers (couples and children)
• Equal in name
• Equal in access to rights and benefits
• Equal responsibilities

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Marriage in civil society

• Stigma and Discrimination
• Using different language for same gender couples
  furthers the stigma and discrimination
• Homophobia and Heterosexism
• Perpetuates homophobia by leaving the impression,
  that these couples just arent good enough and
  their families are somehow less than
  heterosexual couples and their families.

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The road to Marriage Equality

• Hawaii May 1993 (Behr v. Lewin)
• Court decision for Marriage Equality
• Constitutional amendment
• Federal Defense of Marriage Act DOMA (Sept.
  1996)
• Only heterosexual marriages are recognized by the
  Federal Govt
• States do not have to recognize marriages
  performed in other states if it is against the
  strong policy of the state
• States begin adopting their own DOMAs

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The road to Marriage Equality

• Vermont 1999 Court decision (Baker v. St. of
  VT)
• Civil Unions begin in 2000
• Netherlands 2001
• Canada - 2003
• Massachusetts 2003 Court decision (Goodwin v.
  Dept. of Health)
• Marraiges begin in May 2004
• San Francisco, California Feb. 2004
• Ended by Court

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The road to Marriage Equality

• On July 4, 2005, the 25th General Synod
• of the United Church of Christ
• adopted a resolution
• In Support of Marriage Equality for All
• sent by the Southern California Nevada
  Conference

18
In Support of Marriage Equality for All

• equal marriage rights regardless of gender
• government should not interfere
• equal access to the basic rights
• end to rhetoric that fuels hostility
• engage in serious, respectful, and prayerful
  discussion

19
In Support of Marriage Equality for All

• wedding policies that do not discriminate
• support local, state and national legislation,
  and
• work against legislation, including
  constitutional amendments, which denies civil
  marriage rights to couples based on gender

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The road to Marriage Equality

• California legislature Sept. 2005
• Governor vetoes
• So. Africa Court Dec. 2005
• During this time there are numerous court,
  legislative and other activity, mostly in New
  England, but also Arizona, Oregon, Washington and
  other states

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The road to Marriage Equality

• States with laws restricting marriage to one man
  and one woman
• 29 States have constitutional amendments.
• 11 more states have such law.
• http//www.hrc.org/documents/marriage_prohibitions
  _2009.pdf

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The road to Marriage Equality

• New Jesey Oct. 06, Court
• Legislature Civil Unions
• Connecticut Civil Unions, April 07
• California Court May 15, 2008
• Marriage being June 17, 2008
• Prop 8 qualifies for Nov. 08 ballot
• Norway June 2008
• http//www.hrc.org/documents/marriage_prohibitions
  _2009.pdf

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The road to Marriage Equality

• Connecticut Court, for Marr Eq, Oct 08
• Nov. 12, marriages begin
• November 4, 08
• California - voters pass Prop 8,
• Marriages stop, Nov. 5
• Florida Voters approve constitutional amendment

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The road to Marriage Equality

• Iowa Court, April 3, 09
• Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire legislatures pass
  marriage eq.
• California Court upholds Prop 8 and validates
  18,000 marriages, May 26, 09

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Whats Next?

• Challenges
• Maine
• Iowa
• Opportunites
• New York
• California
• New Jersey
• Other States

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How are UCC settings engaged?

• Local churches
• Weddings
• Education
• Phone banks, Canvassing
• Messaging
• Multi-faith services

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Refuse to Sign Campaign
27th General Synod - Equality and the Marriage
License- June 27, 2009
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Public Misperceptions on Church and State

• Our forebears wished to establish a Christian
  nation when the Colonies were founded.
• This goal was codified when the United States of
  America was founded in 1776.

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Christianity or Unitarianism?

• Is the form of Christianity to which we believe
  our forbears subscribed the type of Christianity
  that is embraced by the Religious Right today?
• Thomas Jefferson as an example

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Christianity or Unitarianism?

• Thomas Jeffersoncould not accept the miraculous
  elements in Scripture. He edited his own special
  version of the Bible in which all references to
  the supernatural were deleted. Jefferson, in
  editing the Gospels, confined himself solely to
  the moral teachings of Jesus. The closing words
  of Jeffersons Bible are these There laid they
  Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of
  the sepulchre and departed (Hewett 1988 164).

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Christianity or Unitarianism?

• John Dominic Crossan
• Marcus Borg
• Carl F. H. Henry
• Gerrit Cornelius Berkouwer

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The First Amendment

• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion

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The Separation of Church and State

• Our forbears did not want the government to
  dictate religion, religious beliefs, or religious
  practices.
•  
• Our forbears did not want any religious body or
  set of religious beliefs to influence the
  government.

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The Union of Church and State

• Evangelicalism the Legislation of Beliefs
• Republicanism Focus on Social Issues
• Homosexuality
• Abortion
• Prayer in Public Schools
• Intelligent Design

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Social Ramifications

• A restriction of freedoms
• Goods and services parceled out to those who
  confirm to politically mandated societal norms

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Theological Ramifications

• Ethics are dictated not just by a specific
  religion (e.g. Christianity), but by a specific
  subdivision of a religion (e.g. conservative,
  evangelical, and/or fundamentalist Christianity).

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Gay Marriage

• What are the inherent rights that people in the
  LGBT community have?
• What are the ramifications for the Institution
  of Marriage?

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What is Marriage about?

• Property rights.
• Merger of economic interests.
• Inheritance.
• Ownership (of women).

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Polygamy as Marriage

• Polygamy was sanctioned by many cultures
  throughout history, particularly agrarian, tribal
  cultures. Ancient, agrarian tribes needed farm
  hands to ensure the stability and longevity of
  the cult. The more children a cultic community
  had, the more workers it had. Therefore, one man
  (one household head) fathering several children
  through multiple wives (who were also considered
  his property) was the ideal economic construct.

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Why Separate Church and State?

• Why is the separation of Church and State crucial
  for all marriages, not just LGBT marriages?

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Ecclesiology and Doctrine

• Marriage is an ecclesial term. In the Roman
  Catholic Church, marriage is a sacrament. Other
  religious traditions believe that marriage is
  sacred, although they may not recognize it as a
  sacrament or an ordinance.

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Two Issues

• Does the State have a right to define religious
  doctrine?
• Do churches/denominations have a right to define
  religious doctrines for other churches/denominatio
  ns?

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Clergy as Agents of the State

• By signing state-issued marriage licenses, clergy
  are allowing the state to define doctrine for
  their faith communities.
• By signing state-issued marriage licenses, clergy
  are performing a civic, secular function as
  pseudo state officials.

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Complexities

• How do we maintain a unified Federal system (a
  cohesive Federal Republic) when some states
  recognize the rights of a certain portion of the
  population, but other states do not?
• Will this eventually lead to a breakdown of the
  entire system?

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A Solution A Two-Step System

• Step One
• Any two unmarried consenting adults who want to
  should be able to get a marriage license issued
  by the state a license that is also signed by a
  state official. This, essentially, is a civil
  union.

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A Solution A Two-Step System

• Step Two
• It is up to individual religious communities to
  decide whether or not they will then bless these
  unions and call them marriages. If a religious
  community (such as the Southern Baptist Church or
  the Roman Catholic Church, for example) does not
  want to recognize same-gender marriages, then it
  has a right to discriminate. They do not,
  however, have a right to deny those couples
  legal, civil rights, neither do they have a right
  to impose their beliefs on others who hold
  different beliefs (or on other churches/denominati
  ons).
• 27th General Synod -
  Equality and the Marriage License- June 27, 2009

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How did we get here

• November 2008 election
• Let those who God has joined together let no one
  put asunder.
• He asked, Does that include the state?

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What is the Refuse to Sign Campaign?

• The Refuse to Sign Campaign seeks the
  separation of church and state by advocating
  equal marriage rights for all people, regardless
  of sexual orientation, by encouraging faith
  communities, and their leaders, not to sign
  state-issued marriage licenses.

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Three Pronged Approach

• Education
• Conversation
• Advocacy

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Education

• Interfaith Education
• Church/State
• Bible/Holy Scripture Studies
• Process for congregations/faith groups
• Resources

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Conversation

• Elevator Speech Prep
• Myth busters/ FAQ
• Sermons
• Articles

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Advocacy

• Sign on covenants
• Support system

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Clergy Sign on Covenant

• In good conscience, I am no longer able to
  function as an agent of the government by signing
  state-issued marriage licenses. This license is
  only afforded to a portion of the population,
  which results in a blatant act of prejudice and
  discrimination. In actuality, this violates the
  civil rights of all American citizens.
•  

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Clergy Sign on Covenant cont.

• I believe that God proclaimed inclusivity and
  equality of human dignity. I believe that to
  sign a state-issued marriage license for one
  segment of the people of God, and not for
  everyone, is unjust and discriminatory. As a
  clergyperson committed to authentic ministry and
  called as a prophet, I will continue to call upon
  others to join in this bold position.
•  

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Clergy sign on Covenant cont.

• By signing this covenant, I join my sisters and
  brothers in the ministry who agree to either
• Not sign state-issued marriage licenses ever
  again.
• Not sign state-issued marriage licenses for
  anyone until gay marriage is legal.
• Not sign state-issued marriage licenses as a
  deliberate step toward the implementation of a
  two-step process that advocates for the
  separation of church and state. Those who
  subscribe to this view believe that any two,
  unmarried, consenting adults should be granted a
  civil union by the state, and then it is up to
  each church and/or faith group to determine if
  they will bless such unions and call them a
  marriage.

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Congregation/Faith Community Sign on Covenant

• Our congregation/faith community covenants
  that we will make it our policy that our faith
  leaders will not be signing agents of
  state-issued marriage licenses. Furthermore, we
  covenant that no marriage license will be signed
  on our property.

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Layperson Sign on Covenant

• As a layperson, I believe there should be a
  separation of the church and the state in
  reference to the signing of the state-issued
  marriage licenses. As a layperson, I covenant
  that I will speak to or write to my pastor and
  will ask them to not sign state-issued marriage
  licenses and to only perform religious ceremonies
  for all people.

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Couples Sign on covenant

• We believe that all consenting adults should
  be afforded the same marriage rights regardless
  of their sexual orientation. We also believe that
  state-issued marriage license should only be
  signed by a recognized secular official of the
  state (e.g. a justice of the peace), but not by
  clergy

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Couples sign on covenant cont.

• We also believe that the religious service, that
  unites our hearts in the eyes of God, should be
  performed separately from the signing of the
  state-issued license. Therefore, we covenant with
  one another, our pastor, and God to have our
  nuptials be a two-step process we pledge to have
  a state official sign our license and will
  request that our pastor officiate at a religious
  wedding service to bless our marriage
  (separately). Our pastor will not sign our
  marriage license.

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What can I do?

• Ask yourself Where do I stand on this issue?
• Educate yourself, have conversations, advocate.
• Sign on covenants
• Sermons
• Articles
• Why I support Refuse to Sign vignettes
• Help educate your congregations
• Visit our Website at..
• www.refusetosign.org

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• QUESTIONS???

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REFUSE TO SIGN

• Visit us on-line
• www.refusetosign.org