Who are you? Why are you here?

“What Marriage Means” is a project of the Liberty Education Forum’s Reaching the Heartland campaign. The goal of “What Marriage Means” is to allow people to share how marriage matters to them personally, and to educate the public on the impacts of many state’s discriminatory marriage policies. Our current education efforts are focused on New York State, where gay and lesbian marriages are recognized, but gays and lesbians don’t have the right to marry.

What do you mean by, “discriminatory marriage policies”?

Most States, including New York, and the Federal government, only allow straight couples to marry, thereby denying hundreds rights and responsibilities of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

Where can same-sex couples marry?

Gay and lesbian couples can marry just about anywhere they want, including many churches and synagogues which have performed such ceremonies for decades. Unfortunately, these marriages do not always receive the rights and responsibilities afforded by the State. Same-sex couples’ marriages are recognized by the government in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa, Canada, and several other countries.

In New York, the State will recognize marriages performed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and even Canada, but they won’t allow gays and lesbian New Yorkers to get married in New York.

If we allow gays and lesbians to marry, will all churches have to marry gays and lesbians?

Certainly not! There’s a big difference between religious marriage and civil marriage. Just as the government cannot forbid same-sex weddings in churches today, it cannot force them on places of worship once marriage equality becomes the law.

Are there examples you can share?

In Massachusetts, no churches have been forced to perform gay and lesbian weddings against their wishes. Watch this video to hear directly from clergy in Massachusetts.

So there really is a difference between civil marriage and religious marriage?

Set aside gay and lesbian marriage for a moment and let’s take the Catholic Church as an example. It does not reconize civil divorce, and will not marry a divorcee unless he or she has gone through the length process of annulment. Even though the government may recognize a divorce and a re-marriage, no one is foricing the Catholic Church do so. The same principles of religious freedom should apply to gay and lesbian couples.

So it is not about changing theology, it is about expanding religious liberty?

Exactly. All marriages–gay, lesbian or straight–should be treated equally under the law.

What can I do to help change the law so everybody gets treated equally?

Join the conversation. Tell your stories. Talk to your friends and family about what marriage means to you. Write your legislators and tell them how important marriage equality is. Sign up for updates about What Marriage Means, and contribute to our campaign, so we can reach more New Yorkers.