Religious Leaders Backing Gay Marriage in NJ, MD, WA
As state legislatures in New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington are moving closer to approving marriage equality legislation, religious voices are speaking out in support of equality. People of faith are often portrayed by their most intolerant elements, particularly around issues of LGBT equality, but the reality is that majorities of most religious communities and individuals support equality for all people.
In Maryland, many of those who are speaking in support of marriage equality come from faith traditions that are often seen as anti-LGBT. Rev. David Gilmore, a Baptist minister, said, “Yes I am a traditional black Baptist minister [but] I don’t always think like a Baptist.” He hopes that the example he sets will lead to more openness in his community. Sister Jeannine Gramick, a Catholic nun who has been a part of the movement for LGBT inclusion in the Roman Catholic Church since the 1970s also voiced her hope that marriage equality would become a reality in Maryland. Other speakers included Rabbi Daniel Burg, who is the rabbi at Beth Am, a Conservative Synagogue in Baltimore, and Episcopal priest Angela Shepherd, who stated: “many of us maintain our love for humanity by agreeing to disagree and therefore causing no harm [but] our separation of church and state is being compromised.”
Voices of faith are speaking out in support of marriage equality throughout the country. Rev. Steve Parelli, an evangelical Baptist minister who married his partner in Sacramento in 2008, testified in support of marriage equality in New Jersey. In rejecting civil unions, Rev. Parelli quoted Roger Williams, the Baptist founder of the state of Rhode Island, stating: “Concession and toleration are neither freedom nor liberty. They are merely other names for oppression because they are the allowance of that which is not wholly approved.” He continued: “Civil Union with all the ‘rights of marriage,’ yet without the name of ‘marriage,’ is not freedom but a concession, is not liberty but toleration; and therefore, Civil Union is but another name for oppression.” The Rev. Dr. Traci C. West, Professor of Ethics and African American Studies at Drew University Theological School also released a statement in support of marriage equality in which she expresses sentiments similar to those of Rev. Parelli.
Marriage equality in Washington has seen a surge in support among both clergy and lay people in recent weeks. Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Olympia notes that religious communities have often struggled with the idea of inclusion in relation to LGBT people of faith. On his own blog, Rev. Rickel argues that gay and lesbian couples “are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for equal treatment. They are asking to be accountable, as a couple, in community.” Senator Mary Margaret Haugen, who describes herself as having “very strong Christian beliefs,” announced late last month that she would vote in favor of marriage equality in Washington. Her decision comes from her Christian beliefs, according to her blog post, which states:
“For as long as I have been alive, living in my country has been about having the freedom to live according to our own personal and religious beliefs, and having people respect that freedom. […] My beliefs dictate who I am and how I live, but I don’t see where my believing marriage is between a man and a woman gives me the right to decide that for everyone else.”
Sen. Haugen, a Democrat in a relatively conservative district in Washington, became the 25th vote in favor of marriage equality, ensuring its passage in the Washington State Senate.
GLAAD would like to commend Revs. Gilmore, Shepherd, Parelli, West, and Rickel, as well as Sister Gramick, Rabbi Berg, Sen. Haugen, and other religious supporters for their thoughtful and nuanced understanding of equality and their support for marriage equality in their home states. We are always pleased to lift up the voices of people of faith who support equality for the LGBT community. We also ask that our readers alert us to any problematic coverage of religious voices and marriage equality.
Sign up for the OV Daily Newsletter
Sign-Up Now for the Opposing Views Daily Newsletter
Sign up for the OV Daily Newsletter
Here is why the slippery slope argument fails.
Let us take the 4 common arguments: beastiality, pedophilia, incest, and polygamy. First off, all 4 of these are fetishes, and irrelevant to homosexuality, which is a sexual orientation. Let me distinguish this for you using incest as an example. If a guy into incest is straight, he'll choose his sister, and if he's gay, he'll choose his brother. See the distinguishment? Now pedophilia and beastiality will never be legal, because both are non-consenting and harmful, whereas homosexuality is 2 loving consenting adults that is not wrong or harmful. Incest, also has been shown to lead to genetic defects, so that is also out of the question. Incest also is a fetish, not a sexual orientation. I have never seen a person exclusively attracted to their brothers/sisters etc. Polygamy also is a choice. No one can choose who they would or will be attracted to, but they CAN choose to be in more than one relationship with more than one person at the same time. Polygamy can be damaging, as it can cause jealousies and resentments among the participants and any children produced. Those 4 fetishes can be seen to be harmful and wrong, whereas gay marriage is neither harmful nor wrong.
Gay marriage has been legal in MA for 8 years now, and i don't see anyone pushing for polygamy there. The slippery slope is a myth meant as a scare tactic that's quickly becoming obsolete.
Children will not be harmed by gay marriage. Let's examine research and prove what anti-gays are saying wrong. Also note, that "children" are completely irrelevant to gay marriage, because that issue is about gay adoption, which is not related.
http://www.livescience.com/6073-children-raised-lesbians-fine-studies-show.html "In general, kids in both heterosexual and lesbian households had similar levels of academic achievement, number of friends and overall well-being."
http://www.magneticfire.com/2010/02/19/1119/ "Goldberg’s new book is the first full-length analysis of the research on gay parenting, summarizing research data on the subject from the 1970s to the present day. The research is consistent in suggesting that the outcomes and well-being of children raised by gay and lesbian parents are no different than those of children raised by heterosexual parents."
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20051012/study-same-sex-parents-raise-well-adjusted-kids "Studies from 1981 to 1994, including 260 children reared by either heterosexual mothers or same-sex mothers after divorce, found no differences in intelligence, type or prevalence of psychiatric disorders, self-esteem, well-being, peer relationships, couple relationships, or parental stress."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100831091240.htm "In a study published this month in the journal Demography, Rosenfeld concludes that children being raised by same-sex couples have nearly the same educational achievement as children raised by married heterosexual couples."
http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting.aspx "As this summary will show, the results of existing research comparing lesbian and gay parents to heterosexual parents and children of lesbian and gay parents to children of heterosexual parents are quite clear: Common stereotypes are not supported by the data."
This was taken from another poster that shows why we need to legalize gay marriage. If you don't feel for this person after reading it, you simply aren't human.
"I am not sure what our President thinks of this dicission but coming from a poor family and knowing what discrimination is all about I would assume he would not care if "Gays" have equal rights. The whole reason why they are asking for rights to be considered married is from the same reason why I would be for it. My own life partner commited suicide in our home with a gun to his heart. After a 28 year union I was deprived to even go his funeral. We had two plots next to each other. But because we did not have a marriage cirtificate "(Legal Document)" of our union his mother had him cremated and his ashes taken back to Missouri where we came from. That is only one example how painful it is. His suicide tramatized me so much and her disregard for my feelings only added to my heartach. That happened on March 21 of 2007 and I still cannot type this without crying for the trauma I have to endure each day. Oh did I mention I am in an electric wheelchair for life? Yes I am and it is very diffacult to find another mate when you are 58 and in a wheelchair. "
The National Library of Medicine pubs confirm that sexual orientation is natural, biologically induced in the first trimester of pregnancy, morally neutral, immutable, neither contagious nor learned, bearing no relation to an individuals ability to form deep and lasting relationships, to parent children, to work or to contribute to society.
From the American Psychological Association: homosexuality is normal; homosexual relationships are normal.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association have endorsed civil marriage for same-sex couples because marriage strengthens mental and physical health and longevity of couples, and provides greater legal and financial security for children, parents and seniors.
America's premier child/mental health associations endorse marriage equality.
And it should also be noted that: "It is worth noting that many medical and scientific organizations do believe it is impossible to change a person's sexual orientation and this is displayed in a statement by American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, American School Health Association, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social Workers, and National Education Association."
For those of you claiming homosexuality is a "lifestyle", that is a false and ignorant statement. Homosexuality is not a choice. Just like you don't choose the color of your skin, you cannot choose whom you are sexually attracted to. Virtually all major psychological and medical experts agree that sexual orientation is NOT a choice. Most gay people will tell you its not a choice. Common sense will tell you its not a choice. While science is relatively new to studying homosexuality, studies tend to indicate that its biological.
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/03/differential-brain-activation.pdf http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/dn14146-gay-brains-structured-like-those-of-the-opposite-sex.html Gay, Straight Men's Brain Responses Differ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155990,00.html http://www.livescience.com/health/060224_gay_genes.html http://www.springerlink.com/content/w27453600k586276/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/06/16/172/
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that homosexuality is not a choice. Sexual orientation is generally a biological trait that is determined pre-natally, although there is no one certain thing that explains all of the cases. "Nurture" may have some effect, but for the most part it is biological.
There will of course come a time where even the far religious rightwing here in America will state they always had supported gay rights. Just as they now state the religious rightwing of 100 years ago had supported the right of women to vote, which they clearly did not. That by the way was a largely secular and non-religious movement. So, it's no surprise that more and more religious groups are supporting gay rights.
Jerome McCollom