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Dear MCC
Friend:
Welcome to
the premiere issue of MCC's brand-new Marriage Equality
Newsletter -- prepared by MCC's Marriage Equality Team.
This
monthly newsletter is designed to keep you informed of news about
marriage equality around the globe - and to provide a forum
for you to ask questions and to share your news and
stories with MCCers everywhere.
You will note that the focus of this issue is
largely U.S.-centered. We want this newsletter to function as a source of
international news, and we actively solicit input from our
brothers and sisters around the world.
The
members of the MCC Marriage Equality Team are Rev. Pat Bumgardner
(MCC New York), Rev. Neil Thomas (MCC Los Angeles), Rev. Paul
Ecknes-Tucker (All God's Children MCC, Minneapolis), Rev. Dr. Brent
Hawkes (MCC Toronto), and Bradley Curry (MCC New York Newsletter
Editor).
Welcome to
our premiere issue!
International Statement on Marriage Equality by
Metropolitan Community Churches
Metropolitan Community Churches, an international
movement of Christian Churches reaching in and beyond the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, trans, queer, and heterosexual communities has preached a
three-pronged Gospel of salvation, community and social justice for 38
years.
Throughout these
38 years we have worked together to make real a world of justice and
equality and have celebrated more than 6000 same-sex and opposite-sex
weddings around the globe every year.
We celebrate with our sisters and brothers in Canada,
South Africa, England, the Netherlands, Spain and other progressive
communities who have already won the right to marry and/or civil
partnerships for those among us who are lesbian or gay and will continue
to work for full equality throughout the world of marriage for all who
seek to legalize their relationships within country laws that provide for
marriage, for both opposite and same-sex relationships.
We understand marriage
equality to be a civil rights and justice issue and that religious
communities often differ on their theological understanding of
homosexuality and marriage.
Most religions have their own requirements for
entering into a valid marriage. The Roman Catholic Church, for example,
will not marry first cousins or divorced persons who have not received an
annulment. Some branches of Judaism will not marry a previously married
woman unless she has undergone a religious divorce by receiving a «get.»
Some religious officials will not marry two individuals unless at least
one is a member of their congregation. These will continue to be issues
for religious communities but are not considered within civil marriage.
Metropolitan Community
Churches believes that any person who wishes to enter into a civil
marriage should have the right to do so and that religious communities
should have the right to decide whether or not it will provide religious
services to sanctify that marriage.
We will use our religious voice and our churches
to both promote and provide religious services and blessings for
lesbian/gay couples who wish to sanctify their relationship before God,
regardless of legal recognition, and will work with other communities of
faith to come to a deeper understanding of the value and worth of all of
God’s creation, including those who are homosexual.
Finally, we will use our
resources to work in partnership with other progressive communities,
both secular and religious, to speak out against both secular and
religious voices that would seek to demonize homosexuality and who are
opposed to equal rights for same-gender couples and full marriage
equality.  
During the
most recent conference call meeting of MCC's Marriage Equality
Team, Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, senior pastor of MCC Toronto and the
person most responsible for full legal marriage equality across
Canada, shared his insights on the Canadian strategy that
successfully achieved Marriage Equality here.
Here are
some of his reflections:
-- The key role Metropolitan Community
Churches played in Canada was in the God-vs-Gays issue.
Whenever Canada's Religious Right portrayed the issue in those
terms, they won. When we could shift the argument and focus on the divided
views of the various religious communities, we had a better
chance.
-- Public
appearances where the image was a religious person versus a gay secularist
were not successful. MCC needs to work its way further into the
public debate and frame the debate as religion versus
religion/religious person versus religious person. At press conferences
Rev. Hawkes always made sure he was in clergy collar.
-- A major difference
between Canada and the U.S.: The impact of the Religious Right is
much less than in the States. The Religious Right in Canada is about
7% of the population, versus about 37% in the United States. And
Canadian media often presents the Religious Right as far
out of the mainstream.
--
Alliances are important. The United Church of Canada, the largest
Protestant denomination in the country, was on the side of LGBT rights.
This made it easier to make a case for the majority of religious
people to support equal marriage rights.
-- In Canada, the legislative battle around equal
marriage resides at the federal level, while in the U.S. it is a state
issue. There are pros and cons to this difference. In Canada, provinces
determine only who can do the marriage and how it will be registered.
-- A legal difference that
affects long-term strategy is that Canada has strong common law
marriage rights for partnered heterosexuals that near legal
parity with the formally married. The same progress has not been made
in the States. It was easier for Canada's LGBT people to ask for
the same rights given to other unmarried people in Canada.
Strategy suggests we support the quest for rights for unmarried
heterosexuals: hospital visitation rights, death benefits, etc.
-- The courts are key. Work
on the politicians, but view the courts as key.
-- One advantage in Canada
is the legal evolution has taken place over 40 years. Sexual
activity was decriminalized in the late 60's in Canada -- but not until
2002 in the U.S. LGBT job protections followed quickly in
Canada. Part of the long-term strategy in the States should be
to get stronger non-discrimination laws passed.
-- A key
issue was creating safe space for people to be out. The two groups
that historically oppose equal LGBT rights in Canada are those who
say they do not know anyone who is LGBT and people who are opposed
for religious reasons.
-- The
Canadian strategy early on worked for relational recognition without
marriage (i.e., hospital visitation rights, co-parenting rights, death
benefits at work, etc.). These things have an emotional component and tug
at peoples' hearts.
--
Canada had to work on coalition building. Canada did not have groups such
as the Human Rights Campaign, for example. MCCT and gay-rights group
EGALE joined together to form Canadians for Equal Marriage. It was
successful primarily because of its single-minded focus
on marriage.
--
MCC's role was constantly to try to build religious support. We did a lot
of petitions of religious leaders , as opposed
to congregants, as part of a media strategy. The media is
interested in hearing that Professor X or Sister Y or Dr. Z supports
equality. We went for diversity over numbers. We hired a person to
call religious leaders we thought were supportive and pulled two or three
more names from them, and built a list.
-- Politicians faced with a religious attack
need a religious response. MCC generated press conferences with a
variety of religious leaders and op ed pieces, which were sent to papers
across the country.
--
Language was key. Phrases such as "freedom of religion" and "freedom
from religion" were successfully used. We consistently supported the right
of other faith groups not to perform marriages they chose not to
do.
-- Drawing parallels
with the language used against interracial marriage and against
Jews was important. It was a tactic in showing people how the Bible
can be misused.
--
Baiting the radical elements to speak was a controversial but ultimately
successful tactic. It shifted the middle ground toward us.
-- It is
important to gather the horror stories about what happens to LGBT
when they don't have legal equality.
-- PFLAG was amazingly helpful. Parents telling
stories were very helpful.
-- Early
on we recognized the need to use the term "marriage equality" instead of
"same-sex marriage." It makes the point without the connotation of
"special interests."
--
We need to celebrate the fact that with marriage come both rights and
responsibilities, and sometimes the responsibilities will be acquired
before the rights. We need to celebrate anyway, recognizing that rights
will follow. Responsibilities without rights can be used to point up
inequity. We need to educate the community about the cost of marriage
equality. 
March 23,
2006, New York, NY
PEW
POLL SHOWS PROGRESS ON FREEDOM TO MARRY; NOTES "STRONG" OPPOSITION TO GAY
MARRIAGE, WHICH SURGED IN 2004, HAS EBBED TO A NEW LOW
Although a slight majority
of Americans, only 51% which is far less than expected, continue to oppose
equal marriage rights for committed lesbian and gay couples and their
kids, opposition has so far "declined significantly from 63% in February
2004, when opposition spiked following the Massachusetts Supreme Court
decision and remained high throughout the 2004 election season."
Opposition to ending
discrimination in marriage has fallen significantly among most demographic
groups, with "substantial declines even among Republicans," said the
latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the
Press. The polling was conducted among 1,405 adults from March 8-12,
2006.
"This poll confirms
that if you give people the information and time they need to understand
the harm discrimination in marriage causes real American families, the
majority will continue to move toward fairness," said Evan Wolfson,
executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters:
America, Equality and Gay People’s Right to Marry (Simon &
Schuster).
"If anything,
survey results show that we've been under-optimistic," Wolfson continued.
"Not only is the middle moving, but those who have traditionally been
against us are also beginning to embrace the need for equality in
marriage."
Groups who
have long opposed equal marriage, including seniors, Catholics and
non-evangelical Protestants showed a return to the general trend toward
acceptance. "Among people age 65 and over, for example," said the report,
"strong opposition to gay marriage jumped from 36% in 2003 to 58% in 2004,
but has fallen to 33% today. White evangelical Protestants are the only
major group in which a majority still strongly opposes gay marriage, but
even here the intensity of feeling has receded somewhat."
Public
opinion is changed by keeping the issue in the public eye. Most
groups agree that an "action a month" - something that draws public and
media attention -- is a must.
Some ideas recommended by MCC's Marriage Equality
Team that are either in the works or have been already been
tested are outlined below as an example of what can be done.
February:
Valentine's Day Action demonstrations at the local Marriage Bureau or
City Hall
March: GLAAD Awards (US): support,
promote, etc.
April: Tax Day Protest at the Post
office (US)
May: Lobby Day at the State or
Provincial Capitols
June: Pride Month - a great way to
get attention in the parade, celebrations, etc.
Plan a whole year's worth of
creative events around key dates. As Rev. Dr. Troy Perry says, "It
only takes one individual action to make a difference!"
Here are just a few links to
various articles and/or actions in the past couple months:
Gay Marriage: A Valentine's Day Focus
Valentine's Day Demonstration in Marin
County
Don't Amend.com Actions Around the
Country
Priests Challenge Vatican on Gays and Same-Sex
Marriage
Wedding Taxes and Equality Protest
As mentioned
before, we can use YOUR input for help in topics for discussion, breaking
news on the Marriage Equality front, or feedback in general.
Please feel free to contact
us. In fact, we encourage it!
In
three weeks, the United States Senate will decide whether or not to
make gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans second-class
citizens in our nation's Constitution. U.S. residents, where do your
Senators stand?
As early
as June 5, the Senate will vote on the discriminatory Federal Marriage
Amendment in an attempt to write discrimination into the Constitution. The
Human Rights Campaign has launched an aggressive campaign to stop them.
Click here to take action now.
Despite the fact that the American people want
Congress to focus on skyrocketing gas prices, the war in Iraq, and health
care, right-wing leaders in Congress continue to pursue a discriminatory
anti- GLBT agenda. Prompted by anti-gay Senator Rick Santorum, Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist announced his intention to force a vote on the
so-called Federal Marriage Amendment during the week of June 5.
Here's what you can do to
stop their efforts to write discrimination into the Constitution:
STEP 1: Send a virtual
postcard. Click here to send a postcard telling your Senators to reject efforts
to put bigotry in the U.S. Constitution. When you sign, a postcard with
your name and address will be automatically printed out at HRC's
headquarters. We will hand-deliver your message to Capitol Hill before the
vote.
STEP
2:Spread the word. We need every fair-minded American to speak out against
the discriminatory FMA. Tell everyone to help ensure that the Constitution
continues to represent freedom and equality for all Americans.
STEP 3: Stay informed. In
the next few weeks, we'll be contacting our supporters frequently to give
you the most up-to-date information on the fight against the Federal
Marriage Amendment. Please take the time to open our e-mail messages to
stay informed and find out what you can do to help keep discrimination out
of the Constitution.
The
Human Rights Campaign will be pulling out all the stops in the fight
against this discriminatory amendment. We'll be working with our allies in
the Senate, educating voters across the country, and mobilizing thousands
of fair-minded Americans like you to put a stop to the Federal Marriage
Amendment. Together, with your continued efforts on behalf of equality and
fairness, I know we can win. Please, click here to contact your Senators
today.
Thank you for your continued
commitment to keeping discrimination out of the United States Constitution
and for standing up for equality. Sincerely, Joe Solmonese
President
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