Press Releases

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry Denounces President Bush's Attack on Same-Sex Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jay Johnson, 510-849-8235 or Alvan Quamina, 510-849-8206

BERKELEY, CA - The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS) at Pacific School of Religion today denounced the threat leveled by President Bush against those courts that have recently ruled that same-gender couples deserve the same civil supports and protections afforded heterosexual citizens. In his State of the Union address on January 20, President Bush asserted that in order to defend the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, he would support a federal constitutional amendment to limit the benefits of marriage to unions between one man and one woman.

In its public statement, CLGS asserts that Bush is attempting to deny equal protection of the law to all citizens, and is confusing the sanctity of religious marriage ceremonies performed by faith communities, and legal civil marriage, which is regulated by the state.

"Separation of religion and State means that the State can regulate only civil marriage," says Mary A. Tolbert, the Center's Executive Director. "The government, however well-meaning, should not be in the business of defending the 'sanctity' of religious ceremonies. Faith communities alone must define or defend such religious marriage ceremonies. Laws in America must be applied equally - without regard to color, creed, race, religion, or sexuality - including equal access to civil marriage for all citizens."

The full text of the Center's statement follows:

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS) denounces the threat leveled by President Bush against those courts that have sought to acknowledge the equality under law of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens of this nation, by extending to their relationships the same civil supports and protections afforded heterosexual citizens through legal marriage.

In his State of the Union address on January 20, 2004, President Bush asserted that in order to defend the sanctity of marriage, he would support a federal constitutional amendment that would limit the benefits of marriage to unions between one man and one woman. In supporting this amendment, President Bush seeks to deny equal access and protection to all citizens of the US, and confuses the sanctity of religious marriage ceremonies with legal civil marriage.

President Bush's reckless threat of the use of federal power would undermine the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers, the legal doctrine of Equal Protection under Law upon which all twentieth century civil rights gains were based, and the separation of Church (religion) and State upon which U.S. religious freedoms are predicated.

The separation of Church and State means that no law or court can dictate that a faith community conduct religious marriage ceremonies of any sort, whether heterosexual or same-sex services. Separation of Church and State also means that no law or court can prohibit a church from conducting such ceremonies. In addition to denying the rights of legal marriage to same-gender couples, such an amendment might also mandate which religious services churches could or could not perform - a first step toward a State curbing of religious freedom.

The Christian fundamentalist "moral tradition" that President Bush appeals to refuses to recognize the wide range of religious expression enjoyed by the American people. More ominously, this same "moral tradition" has been used in the past to support slavery, the political and economic disenfranchisement of women, racial segregation, anti-miscegenation laws, and the denial of women's ordination. In contrast, CLGS believes that living religious traditions continually call us to ever-higher standards of justice and equality.

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry calls communities of faith to reject this reckless intrusion of federal power into religious freedom, to join in the struggle for full legal access and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, and to reclaim religious values in support of justice and equality.

For more information, contact the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at 510-849-8206 or www.clgs.org.