Church supports civil marriages

The Telegraph
October 2, 2006
For the past 30 years the church has performed weddings of gay and lesbian couples while supporting the rights of other churches to sanction marriage of their choice. "Civil marriage is different," said Khleber M. Van Zandt, pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Alton. "When a couple is married in the eyes of the state, they receive protections far beyond what those who are considered unmarried receive from our system of laws." [Link]