Religion and Gay Marriage: The Holiness of Loving Against the Odds

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-emily-c-heath/equal-marriage-and-the-ho_b_1604554.html


Rev. Emily C. HeathClergy, United Church of Christ
Posted: 06/22/2012 1:03 am

I have long believed in the importance of equal marriage. I've preached about it, worked for it, and shown up at rallies. Last summer I spent time in the halls of the New York statehouse joining the call for the passage of same-sex marriage legislation in that state. It's always been a matter of justice for me.

But until recently, it's been a relatively academic one. I'd never met anyone I'd seriously considered marrying. Even as I officiated at my friends' weddings I joked with them about being a happy, perennial bachelor. Equal marriage was great. For other people.

God has a sense of humor. I say that because five months from today, my fiancée and I will be joined in marriage. Which means that in the past few months I've learned a new language, spoken only by those who have been through the minor trauma of wedding planning, which comes complete with phrases like "save the date cards," "cake tastings," and "wedding website".

But I've learned another language too. One that only same-sex couples living in the era of DOMA learn. Things like "filing married in Vermont and single on our federal taxes," "counting my partner's inclusion on my health insurance as earned income," "medical power of attorney for when we travel out of state," and "saving extra in case I die because my partner can't receive my social security".

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[Viva_Daddy]

1. Thanks for calling it "equal marriage" or "marriage equality" because that's what it's really about.

It is not about "gay marriage" or any such thing. It is about civil rights and EQUAL rights.

America is supposed to be a country of EQUAL rights for ALL citizens, but obviously it is NOT SO as long as heterosexuals have more rights than gays and lesbians. Equal rights are NOT special rights. What we have is a system of special rights for "special people"...special for no other reason than they happen to be born heterosexual.

America needs to stop lying to itself and to other counties. We are either a country of equal rights or we are not.

[cbayer]

2. Agree. Terminology can be powerful, and in this context you are absolutely right, imo.