Religious Leaders Speak Out in Support of Marriage Equality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2006, New York, NY

PRESS CONTACT
Samiya Bashir
Tel: 212-851-8418 x6, Mobile: 917-617-8660
Email: samiya@freedomtomarry.org

Religious Leaders Speak Out in Support of Marriage Equality

Coast to Coast, Christian and Jewish leaders speaking out in honor of the 9th Annual Observance of Freedom to Marry Week (Feb. 12-18th)

(New York, NY: February 10, 2006) — One seldom discussed fact about the movement to end discrimination in marriage is the wide-spread support of faith leaders from a variety of denominations and faiths. Freedom to Marry Voices of Equality include Lutheran minister, Rev. Carlos Aranda, of Madison, WI, Rev. Thomas J.S. Mikelson, Parish Minister of the First Church and First Parish of Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist, Lama Surya Das, one of the foremost American Lamas in the Buddhist tradition, and Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director of The Shalom Center, Philadelphia, PA.

"Withholding a marriage certificate remains one of the few remaining ways of limiting full citizenship to some among us who are perceived to be alien or 'other,'" said Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, speaking to delegates and supporters at the 2005 General Synod in Atlanta, Georgia, before the Synod passed a resolution in support of marriage equality. "How do we square this with the frequent biblical admonition to 'treat the alien in our midst as a citizen?'" Thomas continued. "Not to tolerate. Not to grant second class status. But to treat as citizens."

During Freedom to Marry Week, religious leaders and their congregations, all over the country will stand by their belief in the abiding principles of love, commitment, compassion, and equality for all families with rabbis and ministers from among our nation's conservative corners continuing to light the way. In Columbia, South Carolina, a press conference will be held with supportive clergy on marriage. Contact Candace Chellow-Hodge at editor@whosoever.org for more information.

In Houston, Texas, the Community Gospel Church will be holding the 4th Annual Texas' Largest Same-Sex Wedding Celebration and Demonstration for the Right to Marry. In Oakland County, Michigan, Metropolitan Community Church pastors will lead "This Year, Every Year, Until," a relationship blessing and demonstration taking place at the Oakland County Courthouse steps and include a prayer vigil for marriage equality.

Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church, in Memphis, Tennessee, will screen the acclaimed documentary, "Tying the Knot," as a part of a discussion group exploring ways to stop the anti-gay constitutional amendment to be voted on in the state this year. In Seattle, Washington, Tibbets United Methodist Church will host the Religious Coalition for Equality's Rev. Monica Corsaro, among others, in "Marriage Equality in Washington State: Where does it stand?"

Jimmy Creech, former senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Omaha, NE, before being defrocked for co-officiating at a covenant service for a gay couple, will be speaking on Sunday morning, Feb. 12, Freedom to Marry Day, at New Mexico's Church of the Good Shepherd. The topics will be "The Cost of Commitment," and "Marriage: the History and Hysterics."

On Valentine's Day, in Montclair, New Jersey, Bnai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue will host "The Greatest LGBTI Rally Ever — The Night Before the Supreme Court Case," held on the eve of the opening of the marriage equality case before the New Jersey Supreme Court. Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality & Gay People's Right to Marry, will be among the speakers. Other events will be held from California to Pennsylvania to Colorado and beyond.

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Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Launched in 2003, Freedom to Marry is headed by Evan Wolfson, nationally recognized as a central "architect of the marriage equality movement." Freedom to Marry guides and focuses this social justice movement on a nationwide level, serving as a strategy and support center for national, state, and local partners, a catalyst that drives and shapes the national debate on marriage equality, and an alliance-builder fostering support from non-gay allies.