Powerful Statement for Marriage Equality from Dignity/Twin Cities

Only marriage can provide families with true equality.
Love. Honor. Commitment.
These are the words that gay and lesbian couples
feel in their hearts when they make a commitment to each other.

Dignity Twin Cities Board of Director’s Statement of Position on Marriage Equality and the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota:

As Americans, we remind our fellow citizens of a foundational principle of our form of government: all are created equal. Consistent with the pursuit of liberty and justice for all, same-sex couples should have full and equal access to the rights and responsibilities bestowed by civil marriage.

As Catholics, we remind our Church of a foundational conviction of our faith: God is love and all that abide in love abide in God and God in them. The love that brings and binds two people of the same, or opposite sex, together has a divine source.

Dignity Twin Cities believes that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have the right to full expression of their sexuality in ways that are consistent with Catholic/ Christian values, including the right to enter into committed relationships; and

We know that only civil marriage bestows important rights, protections and duties to the partners and their families and that public affirmation of a couple's commitment honors their covenant.

Dignity/Twin Cities believes the Bible affirms and celebrates human expressions of love and partnership, calling us to live out fully that gift of God in responsible, faithful, committed relationships that recognize and respect the image of God in all people; and

• the life and example of Jesus of Nazareth provides a model of radically inclusive love and abundant welcome for all; and

• recognition of marriage carries with it significant access to institutional support, rights and benefits; and

• children of families headed by same-gender couples should receive all legal rights and protections; and

• legislation to ban recognition of same-gender marriages further undermine the civil liberties of gay and lesbian couples and contributes to a climate of misunderstanding and polarization, increasing hostility against gays and lesbians.

THEREFORE Dignity/Twin Cities advocates for equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender and declares that the government should not interfere with couples regardless of gender who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of legally recognized marriage.


Dignity/Twin Cities is a community of Catholic Christians established in the 1980s to provide sanctuary and empowerment to LGBT Catholics and allies. It is affiliated with DignityUSA.

Quote of the Day

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has once again demonstrated sanity and moderation on the place of the Catholic Church in modern society. While there are many loud, outraged voices raised in complaint in the US and in the UK over alleged assaults on religious freedom and of perceived persecution of Christians, Nichols has correctly pointed out that what is happening is not the “persecution” of Christians, but an attempt to separate the legal and cultural life of the country from its Christian roots. He is saying in other words, that what is happening is a removal from the Church of its previously privileged position. This may be deplorable, unfortunate, or welcome – but does not amount to persecution, any more than the removal of apartheid in South Africa represented the persecution of Whites.

– Terence Weldon

"Gay Marriage and the English Catholic Church: More Sanity From Vincent Nichols"

Queering the Church

February 23, 2012

At Lenten Prayer Vigil , Catholics Pray and Express Disagreement with Archbishop's Priorities

Funding for efforts to support ‘marriage amendment’
should be redirected to help those in need, vigilers say

Close to 80 Catholics gathered in front of the chancery offices of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis on Sunday, February 26, for the first in a series of weekly Lenten vigils.

Vigilers want to see Archbishop Nienstedt redirect his energies and the financial resources of the Archdiocese away from the divisive ‘marriage amendment’ and toward actions that reflect Jesus' Gospel call to care for the poor and marginalized.

Last month the Minnesota Catholic Conference of Bishops announced that it had spent $750,000 in 2011 on efforts to ensure the passage of the so-called ‘marriage amendment,’ an unnecessary constitutional ban on civil marriage rights for same-sex couples in Minnesota. This figure includes $650,000 from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and $50,000 each from the dioceses of New Ulm and Duluth. The conference has contributed $350,000 to Minnesota for Marriage, an umbrella pro-amendment group. Collectively, pro-amendment groups have raised over $1.2 million dollars to persuade voters to approve the ballot measure in November. In 2010, the Minnesota Catholic Conference spent over one million dollars producing a pro-marriage amendment DVD which was mailed to over 400,000 Catholic households across the state.

Organizers of the vigil note that the Catholic tradition understands Lent as a time of repentance, a time of ‘turning around’ and away from all that holds people back from fully experiencing God’s abundant love."It’s a time of reexamining our motivations, actions and priorities in the light of Jesus’ life of compassion, justice-making and inclusiveness," said Michael Bayly, executive coordinator of Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, the group sponsoring the vigil.

"It is appropriate in Lent to offer prayers when we recognize, both within ourselves and others, that we often fall short in aligning our attitudes and actions with the example of Jesus," Bayly said. "As Catholics and people of good will we'll be gathering at the chancery each Sunday during Lent to bear public witness to the fact that we do not see anything of Jesus’ life and message in Archbishop Nienstedt’s support of the ‘marriage amendment’."

Organizers were heartened by Sunday's turnout and believe the number of vigilers will only increase. The vigil is scheduled to take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each Sunday during Lent (February 26, March 4, March 11, March 18, March 25 and April 1). The chancery is located opposite the Cathedral of St. Paul at 226 Summit Ave., St. Paul.

For Catholics for Marriage Equality MN's media release about the vigil, click here.

To sign the petition related to the vigil, click here.

To read and sign the Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality, click here.

Above right: One of the vigilers on Sunday was Ed Flahavan, a priest of the Archdiocese for 48 years before marrying six years ago.

Says Flahavan: "What I find particularly offensive and wrong – apart from the nonsensical purpose of the marriage amendment itself – is the fact that the Archbishop somehow last year found and spent $650,000 to embed in the State Constitution a law that would be divisive and hateful of good people, made by God just as they are, who want only to love, cherish and support each other till death. This, at a time when parishes and their schools are being merged and closed, when the gap between rich and poor is expanding and efforts at feeding, clothing and sheltering the poor by such agencies as Catholic Charities are being curtailed for shortage of money. I find it a scandal of major proportions. How much is the Archdiocese prepared to spend on this divisive issue this year?"

The vigil also provides an opportunity for Catholics to pray for Archbishop Nienstedt and the bishops of Minnesota – that they may ‘turn around’ this Lenten season and be open to the love and beauty embodied in same-sex relationships and families. Many who gathered Sunday prayed that the bishops may be open to the experiences and insights of the majority of U.S. Catholics who support civil marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Polls show that most of the country’s 75 million Catholics disagree with their bishops on gay rights. A Washington Post–ABC News poll last March found that 63 percent of Catholics believe same-sex marriage should be legal. When Catholics are assured that the issue is civil marriage “like you get at City Hall,” 71 percent of all Catholics support same-sex marriage, according to a national poll by the Public Religion Research Institute also conducted last March. These figures show that Catholics are more supportive than the public at large, whose support for gay marriage, poll after poll shows, hovers just above the 50 percent mark.

Above: A participant in Sunday's first weekly Lenten vigil holds an icon of Sts Sergius and Bacchus.

Above: Jim Smith, parish inreach coordinator of Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, thanks those who participated in Sunday's vigil.

Above: The vigil closed with the praying of the Prayer of St. Francis.


Images: Michael Bayly.

Catholic Bishops Should Read the Writing on the Wall for Same-Sex Marriage

By Maureen Fiedler


Note: This commentary was first published February 24, 2012 by the National Catholic Reporter.

Yesterday, our State Senate here in Maryland passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. This follows similar action by the House of Delegates last week, and it makes Maryland the eighth state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. Our governor, Martin O'Malley – who is a Catholic – pushed for the bill and will sign the bill into law.

In this, O'Malley joins other Catholic governors who also recently approved same-sex marriage: Andrew Cuomo of New York and Christine Gregoire of Washington state.

O'Malley's signature might not be the end of the story in Maryland, however, because opponents of the measure are hoping to put the question on a ballot referendum this fall. So the ultimate decision could be made by Maryland voters. Currently, the polls show a solid majority of Marylanders favoring the measure, but who knows what a large dose of negative campaigning might do?

Part of that negative campaigning, you can be sure, will come from the Catholic bishops. Yet they might profitably do what the three Catholic governors have done: read the handwriting on the wall.

The issue of same-sex marriage is really a "settled" issue, politically speaking. It is only a matter of time before all 50 states legalize it. Why? Look at the polls. Young people strongly favor it. Indeed, most of those under 35 wonder what all the fuss is about. Most know gay or lesbian people who have long since been out of the closet and see no reason to hide their sexual orientation. For the younger generation, this is not an aberration, and knowing such folks is a part of their lived experience. So why can't they marry if they love each other? To most young people, the answer is obvious.

It's no coincidence that governors like Cuomo and O'Malley (both of whom could be thinking about a run for president in 2016) see the trends moving rapidly in direction of such equality.

The bishops might profitably re-examine old positions and – at the very least – stay out of the potential fray in Maryland in the fall. Same-sex marriage is defined these days as a civil rights issue, and there will come a time when the bishops will not want to be cited in history as against civil rights for gay and lesbian people. (The Vatican was defending slavery as late as 1866 – not something to be proud of.)

Moreover, their position further alienates young people, not something the church needs these days.

Many Catholics might say, "Hey! Church teaching is not up for grabs. It cannot change with the wind."

True, but it can change. It's well to remember that Catholic teaching has changed for good reasons over the centuries on a number of serious issues: usury, religious freedom, scriptural interpretation, even slavery. (For documentation, see my first book, Rome Has Spoken.)

Maybe it won't take centuries this time.

Pro-Marriage Equality Catholics Plan Weekly Lenten Vigil at Chancery

On the Sundays of Lent, vigilers will be praying that Archbishop Nienstedt redirects his energies – and the resources of the Archdiocese – away from the divisive “marriage amendment” and toward actions that reflect Jesus’ Gospel call to care for the poor and marginalized.

MINNEAPOLIS – Local Catholics plan to hold a weekly vigil in front of the chancery offices of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis (226 Summit Ave., St. Paul), 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., every Sunday during the season of Lent (Sunday, February 26 – Sunday, April 1).

Michael Bayly, executive coordinator of Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, said that many Catholics have expressed sorrow and anger at the Archbishop’s recent expenditure of time, energy and money on ensuring the passage of the so-called “marriage amendment,” an unnecessary constitutional ban on civil marriage rights for same-sex couples in Minnesota.

Those who will prayerfully gather at the chancery each Sunday of Lent hope to convey to all Minnesotans that there are many Catholics who support marriage equality and oppose the anti-gay and anti-marriage equality activism of the Minnesota Catholic Conference of Bishops.

Organizers note that in the Christian tradition Lent is understood as a time of repentance, of turning around and away from those things that hold us back from fully experiencing God’s abundant love.

“Our hope and prayer is that Archbishop Nienstedt and all the bishops of Minnesota experience a change of heart on the marriage amendment,” says Bayly. “We’d like them to ‘turn around’ and see all the love and beauty embodied in same-sex relationships and families. We also pray that the bishops may be open to the experiences and insights of the majority of U.S. Catholics who support civil marriage rights for same-sex couples.”

Polls show that most of the country’s 75 million Catholics disagree with their bishops on gay rights. A Washington Post–ABC News poll last March found that 63 percent of Catholics believe same-sex marriage should be legal. When Catholics are assured that the issue is civil marriage “like you get at City Hall,” 71 percent of all Catholics support same-sex marriage, according to a national poll by the Public Religion Research Institute also conducted last March. These figures show that Catholics are more supportive than the public at large, whose support for gay marriage, poll after poll shows, hovers just above the 50 percent mark.

Last month the Minnesota Catholic Conference of Bishops announced that it had spent $750,000 in 2011 on efforts to persuade voters to approve the ballot measure in November. This figure includes $650,000 from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and $50,000 each from the dioceses of New Ulm and Duluth. The conference has contributed $350,000 to Minnesota for Marriage, an umbrella pro-amendment group. Collectively, pro-amendment groups have raised over $1.2 million dollars to persuade voters to approve the ballot measure in November. In 2010, the Minnesota Catholic Conference spent over one million dollars producing a pro-marriage amendment DVD which was mailed to over 400,000 Catholic households across the state.

Representatives of the Archdiocese say the money spent on the bishops’ pro-amendment activism comes from investment income, not collection plates or other donations.

Yet, according to Bayly, where the money comes from is beside the point. “It’s still money that is under the control of the chancery and which should be spent on actually helping people in need,” says Bayly, adding that, if passed, the marriage amendment will “help no one and do absolutely nothing to ‘protect’ marriage.”

In January, Catholics for Marriage Equality MN launched an online petition at www.focusonsocialjustice.com. According to Bayly, the primary message of both this petition and the weekly Lenten vigil at the chancery is the same: “We urge Archbishop Nienstedt and all the bishops of Minnesota to redirect our church’s time, energy, and money towards feeding the hungry and caring for the homeless and the sick, and away from the divisive issue of the marriage amendment which is causing unnecessary pain and hostility within the local Catholic community and beyond.”

One Parish’s Response to Archbishop Nienstedt’s World Marriage Day Request

.Note: The author of the following article wishes to remain anonymous so as to avoid possible negative consequences for her parish.


I had heard that in “honor” of World Marriage Day on Sunday, February 12, the chancery had asked parishes to speak out in support of the constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

My parish is open and accepting. Many of my closest friends are parishioners, and many of them are LGBT. In fact, our community prides itself on its diversity and support of all its parishioners. I wondered how we were going to manage this “request” by the archbishop.

What I experienced greatly saddened me but also made me very proud of my parish. As the mass began, I was waiting for the archbishop's World Marriage Day “message” to be delivered. I listened intently during the readings and as the priest began his homily, I braced myself for the “message.” It never came. In fact, the homily highlighted the courage the leper demonstrated by approaching Jesus and asking for healing, in total violation of the law. The priest also pointed out that Jesus was breaking the rules of his time by interacting with an “unclean” person. Not the message I expected to hear.

As the mass came to an end and the announcements began, I again thought I would hear the “message. ” Still, nothing. As the closing hymn ended I went back to pick up the bulletin . . . and that's when I found it. There was a full page insert in the bulletin, each side announcing at the top that the message was from the archbishop. I won’t dwell here on the message. Enough to say, that his message is wrong on all counts.

What struck me was not the message (his stance is not exactly a secret) but rather how hard my parish had worked to minimize the impact and distribution of the mandated message. I later heard that ushers were instructed not to distribute the bulletin. Clearly the staff of my parish, unlike the archbishop, understood the pain this message would inflict and was trying, as best they could, to minimize its damage.

I am deeply grateful for my parish and its compassionate staff. I am also sad that this man is our archbishop. I can’t say I know the man but he seems to have a singular focus which will brook no dissent. He does not reflect the love of Christ for me. I am thankful my parish does.


Recommended Off-site Link:
Mass Uprising – Dominic Holden (TheStranger.com, February 14, 2012).

A Catholic Case for Same-Sex Marriage

By Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo


Note: This commentary was first published February 14, 2012 by The Washington Post.


This month in Maryland and the state of Washington, an extraordinary dynamic is playing itself out: Two Catholic governors are prodding legislators to pass bills legalizing same-gender marriage. Like Govs. Andrew Cuomo in New York and Pat Quinn in Illinois — whose states recently legalized same-sex civil unions — Govs. Martin O’Malley and Christine Gregoire are acting against the strongly expressed opposition of their church’s bishops.

As Catholics who are involved in lesbian and gay ministry and outreach, we are aware that many people, some of them Catholics, believe that Catholics cannot faithfully disobey the public policies of the church’s hierarchy. But this is not the case.

The Catholic Church is not a democracy, but neither is it a dictatorship. Ideally, our bishops should strive to proclaim the sensus fidelium, the faith as it is understood by the whole church. At the moment, however, the bishops and the majority of the church are at odds. A survey published in September by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 52 percent of Catholics support marriage equality and 69 percent support civil unions.

Those numbers shouldn’t surprise people who are familiar with the Catholic theological tradition. For example, Catholic thinking dictates that we should use the evidence we find in the natural world to help us reach our conclusions. Many Catholics have reflected on the scientific evidence that homosexuality is a natural variant in human sexuality, and understand that lesbian and gay love is as natural as heterosexual love.

In forming our consciences, Catholics also consult scripture and our theological tradition. Here, again, there is little firm reason to oppose marriage equality. The Bible presents us with a marital landscape that includes polygamy, concubinage, temple prostitution and Levirate marriages (in which a man is bound to marry his brother’s widow.) Jesus disputed the Mosaic law on divorce, saying that what God has joined man must not separate, but this dictum was modified in the letters of St. Paul.

When we see the manifold changes that marriage has undergone throughout history, many Catholics wonder why our bishops believe that heterosexual marriage in its current 21st century state is a matter of divine revelation.

Those who delve into the theology of marriage will encounter the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, who articulated what Christians have come to call “the goods of marriage.” These are enumerated in contemporary terms as partnership, permanence, fidelity and fruitfulness. Same-sex couples demonstrate all of these attributes just as opposite-sex couples do, unless one defines “fruitfulness” narrowly as the ability to procreate. But many heterosexual couples cannot or choose not to procreate, and the church marries them anyway.

The deeper one looks into the church’s core teachings, the more one realizes that the bishops are not representing the breadth of the Catholic tradition in their campaign against marriage equality. Nowhere is that more true than in the area of Catholic social justice teaching.

Catholic social teaching requires that all people be treated with dignity, regardless of their state in life or their beliefs. It upholds the importance of access to health-care benefits, the protection of children, dignity in end of life choices, and, most importantly, the promotion of stable family units. Marriage equality legislation would be an obvious boon to same-sex couples and their children in each of these areas, yet the bishops are spending millions of dollars opposing it.

In our work within the church, we have met countless people who do not necessarily challenge the church’s teaching on the nature of sacramental marriage, but support civil marriage for same-sex couples with a clear conscience.

Some are concerned that the children of gay and lesbian couples will suffer if their parents’ relationships are not legally recognized. Others have a gay or lesbian colleague, friend or family member whom they want to protect. And still others realize that their own lives would be very different if the bishops had the power to make church law into state law — say by banning artificial contraception or making it impossible to remarry after a divorce.

The opposition to marriage equality by the church’s hierarchy is well known, but in the quiet of their own consciences, millions of Catholics are arriving at different conclusions rooted deeply in the teachings of our faith. We support marriage equality, and we won’t forget the Catholic legislators and governors who have worked on behalf of justice for lesbian and gay couples.

Sister Jeannine Gramick is co-founder of New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md. Francis DeBernardo is executive director of New Ways Ministry, which is a member of the Equally Blessed coalition.


See also the previous Sensus Fidelium posts:
Archbishop Just One of Many Catholic Voices in Gay Marriage Debate
A Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality
Catholics Lead the Way! – The Latest Statistics on Religious Support for Marriage Equality

Recommended Off-site Link:
The Minneapolis (and Online) Premiere of Catholics for Marriage Equality — Michael Bayly (The Wild Reed, October 17, 2011).

The Politics of Scandal

By Joe McHugh


NOTE: This commentary was first published February 9, 2012, by Lavender Magazine.


I was born Catholic and hope to die Catholic. Despite its scandals, the church still speaks words of healing, hope and freedom to me. Right now, however, I feel scandalized by how the leadership of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, particularly Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, has repeatedly chosen to treat the LGBT community in just the opposite way.

While I disagree with church teaching on this matter on psychological and theological grounds, arguing is futile. I suspect LGBT issues are this generation’s birth control. What follow is less an argument than a cry of grief for the lives and loves I see demeaned and deadened.

Church teaching and the gospel are not identical, and all historically conditioned teaching must be judged against the demands of the gospel at a particular time and place – a gospel less about judgment than about love, compassion and inclusion.

Declaring gay sexual orientation objectively disordered and then labeling sexual love and companionship to gay persons as sinful are teachings that demean the divine and human spirit. These teachings, I am afraid, have less to do with divinely decreed teaching than with social control and institutionalized fear and homophobia. These are ethical issues I would like to see the church address.

The church has a right to attempt to influence public opinion. As a result, Catholics last year received DVDs urging them to defend marriage or risk social and moral chaos. As a follow up, the Minnesota Catholic Conference is now mounting a statewide initiative to drum up support for inserting the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman into the state constitution. What I cannot support, however, is making support for the marriage amendment a litmus test for being faithfully Catholic.

On a more personal level, certain of the archbishop’s actions have been embarrassingly callous. He once refused communion to gay-identified college kids, and he is now asking Catholics to pray his recently written Marriage Prayer. His decision to include the “one man and one woman” language directly into the prayer strikes me as an exploitation of religious sentiment and practice in the service of political ideology. Mixing religion and politics is always dangerous, but disguising discrimination as virtue and prayer is particularly perilous.

At the most personal level, I serve as a spiritual director for lots of Catholics and Catholic priests. In this role I see first hand the destructiveness that can come from automatically imposing abstract principles on real lives. Church teaching appears increasingly irrelevant to younger LGBT folks, but their parents are sternly warned today about the sinful consequences of expressing any acceptance of the gay identity of their children. Many priests—especially gay priests—feel particularly compromised, and I talk with Catholic after Catholic looking for convincing reasons to stay in the church.

Invoking their promise of obedience, the archbishop has instructed deacons and priests that they are not to disagree publicly with this stand. If it becomes an issue of conscience for any of them, the archbishop has asked them to contact him directly. At least one priest has nonetheless disagreed publicly with this initiative, and his has been advised that his priestly faculties could be in jeopardy. The archbishop’s stand and instructions were strongly affirmed by the younger priests who are glad to see doctrinal and moral orthodoxy finally being addressed. In certain circles there is a movement to see the tactics of the archdiocese and the Minnesota Catholic Conference serve as a national model.

Catholic Church teaching on LGBT issues will not change anytime soon. Given this reality, Archdiocesan leadership can, however, decide to act more compassionately and less judgmentally. I would invite the archbishop just to listen to LGBT people talk about their lives, loves and faith. Just listen and at least temporarily hold the impulse to judge in check.

Joe McHugh is a spiritual director and retreat leader based in the Twin Cities. He can be reached through joemchugh-associates.com.


See also the previous Sensus Fidelium posts:
Archbishop Just One of Many Catholic Voices in Gay Marriage Debate
A Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality


Related Off-site Link:
The Catholic Hierarchy Goes to War . . . Against Me, a Catholic Who Happens to Disagree With Them – Dick Bernard (The Progressive Catholic Voice, February 14, 2012).

Catholic Coalition Praises Passage of Marriage Equality in Washington

Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholic groups that support equality for LGBT people in the church and wider society, released this statement on the signing of marriage equality legislation in the state of Washington:

"We are delighted that another Catholic governor has signed marriage equality legislation into law. Governor Christine Gregoire is a member of the ever-increasing Catholic majority that supports laws assuring fair and equal treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families.

"Like the governor, we understand that Catholic social teaching requires that all people be treated with dignity and respect, as beloved children of God; that Catholic moral teaching dictates that in political matters we support those policies that foster the common good; and that the experience of millions of devout believers teaches us that there is grace and beauty in the loving relationships of same-sex couples.

"Congratulations to the governor, the legislature, and to all Washingtonians who worked for justice."

A Reflection on the "Misguided" Generation

We're hearing opinions from Catholic hierarchs and their advocates of LGBT equality suppression that support for LGBT equality is a cultural blip that will "straighten" out in the next 30 years. They conclude that the young people of today--overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT dignity/equality--are "a misguided generation".

Where in heaven's name is the evidence for this opinion? Seems the evidence points in exactly the opposite direction.

The young are largely supportive because their LGBT peers are out of the closet earlier and quicker than previous generations. What they see in the lives of these LGBT peers are the same hopes and dreams, the same desires for connection and intimacy, the same heartaches and elations. They know these peers as equally capable of true friendship or betrayal, of deep compassion or shallow meanness. In other words, the young are not seeing themselves and their LGBT peers in an "Us and Them" world. It is more and more about simply "We". How Gospel of them.

The young are largely supportive because many of them have aunts or uncles or other family, friend or neighbor elders who are out-LGBT. The young see into the lives of these elders, and they see loving people, real people who contribute mightily to the world with the gifts and talents of their shared humanity.

As these young people grow older, they will continue to be in relationship with their LGBT family and friends and co-workers and neighbors, and they will gather in relationship with additional LGBT folk. The world they will help create (are already creating) will be/is a world of "We".

And so, quite likely in 30 years we will see a culture of much greater inclusion and equality as we see today...

...thanks to our young, "misguided" generation.

Quote of the Day

The moral issue in my mind is whether there is truth between [a] couple. "Do you love one another for better or for worse?" The sanctity of marriage is based on this same truthfulness. With studies showing heterosexual extramarital affairs ranging anywhere from 15 percent to 50 percent among husbands and about the same varying range for wives, its become sadly irrelevant to talk about the sanctity of marriage in any terms other than how much couples are committed to each other. It seems to be overlooked that gay marriages take work just as heterosexual ones do. Gay marriages can end in divorce just as heterosexual ones can.

It can be a lonely world out there. If two people are fortunate enough to fall in love, then that is among the greatest blessings in life. Putting your heart on the line to become married and stay married has nothing to do with sexual orientation. It has to do with personal values, which are things each of us figures out for ourselves. Heterosexuality is not a virtue on its own – after all, plenty of heterosexuals are terrible at relationships. Being able to experience true love though, is virtuous.

– Kenneth Kales

"Gay Marriage Makes Sense"

The Huffington Post

February 7, 2012

Retiring Old Assumptions About Religious People and Same-Sex Marriage

By Robert P. Jones, Ph.D.


Note: This commentary was first published February 7 at The Huffington Post.

Recently, Democratic Washington State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen offered evidence that the same-sex marriage debate has moved past the old battle lines between secular proponents and religious foes. Sen. Haugen tipped the scales for supporters of a same-sex marriage bill in the Washington legislature when she announced that she would support the measure. Her decision, she explained, was grounded in her "strong Christian beliefs" and her desire to "live by the Golden Rule." Sen. Haugen's distinctly religious logic echoed Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, who is a practicing Catholic. Gregoire strongly endorsed her state's same-sex marriage bill after opposing marriage equality for most of her time as governor.

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, a debate where there religious voices were also raised on both sides. If the issue passes in Washington State, it will join five other states and the District of Columbia as jurisdictions where gay and lesbian Americans are legally able to marry. Five other states are also debating the issue this year.

Recent analysis of 2011 polling on same-sex marriage reveals that the changing landscape challenges some common stereotypes about religion and the issue of same-sex marriage. Notably, 2011 was the first year on record where supporting same-sex marriage was not a minority position. At mid-year, several polls from different organizations (including one from Public Religion Research Institute) found slim majority support for allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. Polling later in the year continued to find plurality or even support for same-sex marriage.

More significantly, a new exploration of 2011 polling by Public Religion Research Institute offers decisive evidence that the old assumptions about battle lines between secular proponents and religious foes no longer hold. Majorities of five major religious groups and the religiously unaffiliated favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, compared to three major religious groups who oppose same-sex marriage. On the side supporting same-sex marriage, the religiously unaffiliated (72 percent) are joined by majorities of Jews (76 percent), Americans affiliated with a non-Judeo-Christian religion (63 percent), white Catholics (56 percent), Hispanic Catholics (53 percent) and white mainline Protestants (52 percent). Together, these religious groups make up approximately 45 percent of the general population.

On the other hand, large majorities of white evangelical Protestants (75 percent), Mormons (75 percent) and black Protestants (63 percent) continue to oppose same-sex marriage. Opposition to same-sex marriage among these groups is intense: near-majorities of Mormons (48 percent) and evangelicals (46 percent) strongly oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally. Together, these groups comprise approximately 32 percent of the general population.

Within these opposition groups, however, a generational gap signals that with the passage of time, this intense resistance may ebb. Even among white evangelical Protestants -- the group most opposed to same-sex marriage -- nearly 4-in-10 (39 percent) white evangelical Protestant Millennials favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, a rate that is more than 20 points higher than that of white evangelicals ages 30 and older (18 percent). The same is true of Catholics: 66 percent of Catholic Millennials favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, 15 points higher than Catholics ages 30 and above (51 percent).

The quirks of specific constituencies and cultures may drive individual statewide legislative and ballot initiative battles this year. But the prominent testimonies of religious elected officials, alongside the perspectives from the people in the pews, certainly demand that the media retire the archaic assumption that religious people oppose same-sex marriage.

Robert P. Jones is the CEO and Founder of the Public Religion Research Institute.


Related Off-site Link:
All Across the Land, Religious Support for Marriage Equality Continues to Grow – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, February 9, 2012).

Catholics Lead the Way! – The Latest Statistics on Religious Support for Marriage Equality

. . . A Pew Forum analysis on attitudes toward same-sex marriage by religion released Feb. 7 said Catholics supported same-sex marriage 52 percent to 37 percent, with 11 percent undecided as of an October 2011 survey. That is up from a 46 percent favorable opinion (42 percent unfavorable) in a survey conducted in August and September 2010.

Hispanic Catholics are split, 42 percent to 42 percent, on same-sex marriage, while white Catholics approve of same-sex marriage by a margin of 57 percent to 35 percent.

Overall, same-sex marriage was favored by Americans 46 percent to 44 percent in the 2011 poll; in the 2010 survey, it was opposed 48 percent to 42 percent. The only religious groups remaining opposed to same-sex marriage in the latest survey were white evangelicals, 74 percent to 19 percent, and black Protestants, 62 to 30. Protestants overall remain opposed to gay marriage, 58 to 34.

– Mark Pattison

"Federal Judicial Panel Rules California Proposition 8 Unconstitutional"

Catholic News Service

February 7, 2012

Minnesota's Rabbis Stand Up, Speak Out

The Minnesota Rabbinical Association, representing the Reform and Conservative movements within Minnesota, announced their opposition to the proposed marriage amendment. The amendment, they insist,

seeks to continue the practice of leaving individual families within the LGBT community vulnerable and unprotected by the law. To honor an individual is to fight against discrimination in society for any reason, including race, religion, natural origin, gender, age or sexual orientation.

"Throughout history the Jewish community has faced discrimination, and therefore we will not stand by while others are targeted.

For the full article in the Star Tribune of the announcement, click here.

Now, the Orthodox Rabbis in Minnesota did not sign the statement. But hear what one Orthodox Rabbi from St. Louis Park had to say, and compare his respect for his congregants' conscience to the messages of Archbishop Nienstedt. Rabbi Chaim Goldberger:

Our feeling is individuals need to vote their conscience and should vote as they see fit.

If an Orthodox Rabbi offers this respect for the minds and hearts of his people, can we ask the same of our own leaders?