Noteworthy

CLGS's Marriage Project

by Jay Johnson, CLGS Programming and Development Director

The debate over same-sex marriage promises to be one of the more divisive "wedge" issues in this year's presidential campaign, and language for this debate is being set by religious voices. Reactionary religious organizations, for example, have managed to obscure the difference between civil rights and religious rites. Marriage equality for same-sex couples is a matter of civil rights, of enjoying the same benefits and responsibilities as any other married couple. This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not our churches and faith communities choose to celebrate and bless same-sex couples with religious and liturgical rites. Likewise, the institutional church took an interest in regulating marriage relatively late in its history and first considered marriage a "sacrament" only in the 12th century.

As our families, friends and faith communities continue to sort through these issues, CLGS will launch the Marriage Project on the CLGS website starting February 14 - Valentine's Day. This date is also the culmination of Freedom to Marry Week, sponsored by a variety of LGBT organizations and coalitions, including the Freedom to Marry Coalition. The CLGS Marriage Project will include historical, ethical and theological perspectives on marriage, liturgical materials and sermons, and an overview of the important social justice issues involved in this contentious debate.

The Marriage Project will be an ever-expanding resource for both LGBT people and communities of faith and we need your help. If you have any personal stories you would like to share about civil unions or marriage and how these are important to you, we would love to post them on our website as part of the project. Likewise, if you have preached or have heard any sermons for a same-sex blessing ceremony, we would like to include that in our site too. Please send any inquiries about this and/or materials to Bernard Schlager, who is coordinating those efforts (bschlager@clgs.org).

Be sure to spread the word among your families, friends, communities of faith and co-workers about the Marriage Project and direct them to our website for more information. You can also find there, on our home page, a link to the recent CLGS press release regarding the recent State of the Union address by President Bush and his remarks on the marriage issue.