The Washington Post reports that the Rev. Eric Lee, Los Angeles president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Los Angeles chapter has come to Washington, DC to support local efforts to establish full marriage equality. Lee, who also opposed Proposition 8 in California, intewnds to focus on reaching out to the African-American community in the nation’s capital.
“It is clear to me that this is a civil rights issue,” Lee said in an interview. “The challenge, however, particularly for the African-American community, is how to frame it as to not cause the clergy to believe they are compromising their Christian belief systems.”
But Lee, whose trip is sponsored by International Federation of Black Prides and the Courage Campaign, said he thinks he can help gay rights activists make inroads with African-Americans through “reasonable dialogue.”
“I am not of the LGBT community, so there is no pushback like I am trying to force it on them,” Lee said. “I am just trying to reason with them…. I think there is a way that people of faith can affirm the dignity of everyone’s humanity without compromising your Christian or religious principles.”
The Post’s Robert McCartney recently published an article underlying the racial divide over marriage equality, noting that while whites in the District backed the issue 8 to 1, African Americans were against it 48 percent to 34 percent. The divide over the subject underlines the importance of work by leaders such as Lee to work to achieve full equality for all couples regardless of their sexual orientation.
A poll release by the Des Moines Register shows a unique insight into support for marriage equality in the Buckeye State. In that 92 percent of Iowans argue that the state’s recognition of same sex marriage has not had an adverse impact on their lives, though support for marriage equality remains split, with 41 percent whom say they would support a constitutional amendment to overturn marriage equality and 40 percent who would oppose a ban.
The Register also highlights consern the focus on wedge issues might hurt the GOP at the ballot box:
“It’s really none of my business what other people do in their lives,” said Curt Goodell, 38, a Johnston resident.
He identifies himself as a Republican but said he worries his party will try to make marriage a key issue in coming elections. “I don’t have any judgment toward people who want to get married: gays, straight or whatever,” Goodell said.
Few poll respondents who described themselves as Republicans say the court decision is the single most important issue in the 2010 elections. But more than a third of Republicans say it is among several important issues, while only about a quarter of Democrats put it in that category.
Former state Republican Chairman Mike Mahaffey said the poll shows that, as the party searches for a winning message, the economy trumps marriage among voters.
Read more about marriage equality in Iowa in the Des Moines Register.
The issue of faith and values plays very strongly on voters minds in Maine as they consider support for the state’s marriage equality law at the ballot box on November 4. The Maine Sunday Telegram finds active relgious leaders who see religion, scripture and their faith as a reason why to support the freedom to marry.
There is a “strong movement in every religious tradition to rethink family, gender and sexuality,” said the Rev. Dr. Marvin Ellison, a Presbyterian minister and head of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry.
“Religion is going to be a factor — every religious tradition is concerned about the well-being of persons and the character of our community,” he continued. “Many of us who are deeply religious believe the best way to support all families is to make available the rights and protections all families and all couples deserve.”
[Rabbi Carolyn] Braun [of Temple Beth El in Portland], the rabbi, said that for her, the issue boils down to the concept that God made humans in his image. That’s where she plans to center her sermon for Rosh Hashana, she said.
“God wouldn’t create a being that’s no good; I believe that our sexuality is really part of who we are,” said Braun.
Click here to learn more about what faith leaders are doing to support marriage equality in Maine.
Despite organized efforts by the Maine Catholic Diocese to overturn marriage equality laws, a local group of Catholics firmly committed to ensuring that all have the right to marry.
Jack and Rose Dougherty went to St. Rafael’s Church in Kittery that same Sunday, armed with petitions spearheaded by Catholics for Marriage Equality. They also put a note in the basket during the second collection stating they did not support the church’s action. Six other parishioners found them after Mass and signed the petition, said Jack Dougherty, people who “had called to offer support, and said, ‘We’re behind you on this. We think you’re right.’”
Dougherty said the Catholics in support of the law are organizing and the petition is a step in that direction.
The one-page, single-spaced petition titled, “God is Love,” begins: “As faithful Roman Catholics and citizens of the state of Maine, we believe that the right of every citizen to practice freedom of religion is based on the principle of respect for the dignity of each individual.”
The petition states that Catholic teaching on social justice “has been central to the building of a just society,” and added, “We remember that Roman Catholics were once denied civil rights … because of our sacred rituals.”
To learn more about the campaign to protect marriage equality in Maine, visit No on One: Protect Maine Equality.
