Solidarity Grows in Fight Over Gay Marriage BansMotherJones
by Tucker Foehl
(JAN 14) In a novel approach to contesting gay marriage bans, Reverend Michael Ray and St. Thomas's Episcopal Church in New Haven, CT announced yesterday that they will perform no marriage ceremonies at all. Even though no gay couples have asked to be married there, Ray sent a letter to the 115 families of the church informing them of the new strategy to combat discrimination.
Ray noted that he could recommend other churches but also asked couples "to postpone their marriage and stand in solidarity with same-sex couples so they understand what it's like not to have that privilege."
With the fight over gay marriage bans sweeping the nation, most recently in Arizona and Virginia, this issue will continue to dominate domestic debates in future elections and ballot initiatives.
Although St. Thomas Church actions are unlikely to change the Episcopal Church's gay marriage ban or significantly impact the overall debate, the increase of solidarity does come at an important time for gay rights activists and their supporters.
This week over twenty gay rights groups - including the Log Cabin Republicans and Stonewall Democrats - issued a statement that they work together in 2005 toward common goals and collective action. In the statement they put forth a broad call for support and emphasized the importance of solidarity efforts like Reverend Ray's in the fight for equal rights:
"Even the most vibrant, vital community can, over time, settle into a status quo. A movement cannot. And the success of our movement is measured not only in the hearts and minds we change, the allies we engage and the civil rights we secure, but in the strength of our collective commitment to the pursuit of enduring social, political and legal change that moves us ever closer to true equality."
