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By Bonnie Tinker
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courtesy of Bonnie Tinker
Abby Hayward and Jamie Bolyard were the first same-sex couple married with a marriage license issued by Multnomah County on March 3, 2004. Glenna Shepherd, the pastor of Metropolitan Community Church, conducted the ceremony. Because they were married on the steps of the county building by a waiting pastor, their marrige actually predated the official “first couples” who were married in ceremonies conducted by judges at the HIlton Hotel. Oregon law allows marriages to be certified by clergy or judicial officials, but same-sex marriages were ruled invalid by the Oregon Supreme Court after they were challenged by right-wing religious groups. The Domestic Partnership law, which was subsequenly passed to provide some rights to same-sex couples (but which is unavailable to opposite-sex couples), cannot be certified by clergy but is simply signed by county clerks.
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The Portland and Clark County Chapters of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United) will sponsor a symposium on Same-Sex Marriage to be held Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. in Hoffmann Hall at Portland State University. The event, titled “Civil Rites,” is co-sponsored by the Portland State Department of Women’s Studies, Basic Rights Oregon and Love Makes A Family.
The symposium will include a panel presentation, personal stories from lesbian and gay couples, and questions from the audience. The panel will be moderated by Steven K. Green, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Law and Democracy at Willamette University School of Law.
Panelists include: Tamara Metz, professor of Political Science at Reed College; Beth A. Allen, attorney at law; Reverend Tara Wilkins, executive director of Community of Welcoming Congregations; and Rabbi Daniel Isaak, Congregation Neveh Shalom. Bonnie Tinker, executive director of Love Makes A Family, Inc. will share personal stories of the way same-sex couples are impacted by the denial of legal recognition of their marriages.
Bruce Adams, president of the Columbia Chapter of Americans United in Portland, says the group was spurred to action by the passage of Proposition 8, which eliminated marriage equality in California by inserting Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California into the State Constitution.
Various religious groups organized to place this initiative on the ballot in response to the California Supreme Court’s ruling in May 2008 that the state constitution guaranteed all citizens the fundamental right to marry, and that denial of this right to same-sex couples based solely on their sexual orientation violated the state constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Prop 8 changed minds
“California’s Proposition 8 was a real eye opener for many people,” says Adams. “They saw some religious groups mounting a huge effort to impose their religious view of marriage on everyone, not by persuasion, but by law. Churches are free to promote their views, of course, but the U.S. Constitution provides for the separation of church and state. Americans object to laws that restrict their rights, especially when they impose narrow religious views on everyone.”
Americans United joined the legal petition to overturn California’s Proposition 8 after mounting evidence demonstrated that the measure was passed with the aid of massive funding from a range of religious groups, notably Mormons and Catholics. The New York Times also reported that Mormon volunteers “were instructed to emphasize that Proposition 8 would restore the definition of marriage God intended.”
Local members of Americans United share the concern of their national organization. “It just has never made ANY sense to me why the Federal Government or States can ‘ban’ same-sex marriages if some religious faiths believe they can and should be performed,” says Susan Gates, chair of the planning committee for the forum. She explains the group’s concern: “It is clearly allowing government interference into religious practices.”
As Gates stated, many religions support marriage equality and treat same-sex marriages the same as opposite sex marriages. Quakers in Portland (Multnomah Monthly Meeting) held their first celebration of a lesbian marriage in 1989, and have celebrated the marriages of three additional same-sex couples since then.
Out of their concern for marriage equality, Quakers supported the founding of Love Makes A Family, one of the forum co-sponsors. They continue to work for legal equality for same-sex marriages and joined The Community of Welcoming Congregations (CWC) when it was founded.
“Religious groups are within their rights to discriminate between opposite-sex and same-sex couples,” Gates explained. “But for the government to discriminate against same-sex couples is a clear violation of the First Amendment. Part of the purpose of our symposium is to raise awareness of the severe legal consequences for many same-sex couples denied state and federal benefits that certificates of marriage would automatically give them.”
One of the program’s co-sponsors, Basic Rights Oregon, is very involved with efforts to gain legal parity for same-sex couples through legislation.
Concentration to be on experience
This program is important not only because of its timeliness, but also because it goes beyond the usual questions about whether the lesbian/gay lifestyle is moral, et al., by asking, “What is the experience of these families trying to live their lives? What are the legal and human costs of denying equal marriage rights to individuals, couples and families?” says Juanita Greenway, chair of the Clark County Chapter of Americans United.
“Laws against same-sex marriage do not ‘protect marriage.’ Rather, they impose one view of marriage on everyone. America believes in our right to make our own decisions based on our own values, not to impose our values on everyone else,” says Adams. “While many couples choose to be married in a house of worship, marriage itself is ultimately a civil institution, governed by civil laws. When people attempt to make our laws reflect their own religious views, they are violating the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. We are offering this symposium in support of this very important principle.”
Bonnie Tinker is the director of Love Makes A Family, Inc., a social change organization that educates and advocates for family equality, social justice and peace. She can be reached at bonnietinker@gmail.com.
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