Should Marriage for Same Sex Couples be Legal?

Recommend (2) Comments (0)

Ending the exclusion from marriage does not take away the important religious freedom that we rightly cherish in this country.  All religious groups retain the right to make their own decisions, consistent with the principles of their faith, about whom they will and won’t marry.  Some religious groups refuse to marry a couple unless both people are of that group’s particular faith.  Other religious groups refuse to marry people who have been previously married and divorced.  Allowing same-sex couples to marry does not change that important religious freedom.  Some groups will refuse to marry same-sex couples, and that choice should be respected under the law.

On the other hand, a growing number of faith groups want religious freedom to celebrate the lifelong commitments made by individuals in same-sex couples, because for them the core of spirituality is precisely the commitments people make, because that demonstrates peoples’ values.  For instance, Maureen Kilian, a church administrator and devout Episcopalian who was a plaintiff in Lambda Legal’s New Jersey case seeking access to marriage for same-sex couples, gave the following testimony: “For me, being married also tells people about your values and your faith, because it is an incredibly important commitment that has a spiritual side. In my faith, the marriage commitment is really important. Straight couples whose belief systems place a priority on commitment can, by getting married, show that their actions match the words of their beliefs.”  Allowing Kilian to marry her partner of over 30 years would respect her religious freedom to have her actions match the words of her beliefs. At the same time it would not interfere with the important religious freedom of faith groups that do not wish to marry same-sex couples, divorced individuals, persons of a different faith or anyone at all.