Press Releases

Monday, May 17, 2004

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry Applauds the First State-Sanctioned Marriages in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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) applauds the dozens of lesbian and gay couples who married today in Massachusetts. In addition, CLGS congratulates those hundreds of other same-sex couples who have applied for marriage licenses in some 350 municipalities across the state. Today Massachusetts has become the first US state to permit same-sex marriage and it now joins Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec as one of six jurisdictions in the world that allow same-sex couples to marry legally.

The right to marry is a civil right that should belong to all citizens of this country and, indeed, to all women and men throughout the world, regardless of their sexual orientation. While religious groups and denominations are certainly free to define marriage according to their own beliefs and principles, they should not be allowed to dictate civil marriage policy in any society where there is a genuine separation of church and state. Despite the disappointing call of President George Bush again today for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, CLGS urges all Americans to fight vigorously any efforts to enshrine in the United States Constitution laws which discriminate against persons based on sexual orientation.

For more information on marriage, please visit the web-based CLGS Marriage Project. This website, designed as a resource for the general public, clergy, members of congregations, and the press, provides scholarly and religious resources on marriage in the United States with the aim of promoting views of marriage that are more open, more just, and more inclusive of all citizens regardless of sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.