You gotta love this headline: Vermont Clergy Throw Support Behind Gay Marriage Bill

[cali]

updated 52 minutes ago

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Nearly 200 Vermont clergy are speaking out in favor of legislation pending at the Statehouse that would grant equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Hearings begin Monday on the proposal introduced by the state Senate leader, Peter Shumlin of Putney, that would make Vermont the nation's third state to allow gay couples of marry.

Since 2000, Vermont has offered civil unions for gay couples, a system patterned after the state marriage statute.

The Rev. Linda Maloney, an Episcopal minister from Enosburg Falls, said , "Civil unions are a good thing, but are still not equality."

Maloney joined about 25 colleagues of varying Christian denominations at a news conference at City Hall in Burlington Wednesday to voice their support for marriage equality. They released a roster of Christian and Jewish clergy from across Vermont who signed a statement of support for same-sex marriage rights, framing the issue as one that protects their religious freedoms.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29644533/

[cali]

1. kick

we saw a lot about how people of faith are bigoted and intolerant. Here's a story that shows that they can also be a force for good.