One of the blessings of serving as UUA president is being inspired by the idealism and commitment of UU’s across the country.
On Valentine’s Day I had the honor of participating in two separate public witness events advocating for marriage equality in the state of Virginia. In each case, a same sex couple that has been together in a committed relationship for more than 20 years applied for a marriage license.
The first event, in the morning, was at the Arlington County courthouse. There an interfaith group of clergy and lay people met to accompany the couple, James Fisher and Ron Bookbinder, into the courthouse. Ironically enough, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Paul Ferguson, is a UU and a member of the Arlington congregation. Another member of our group was Jay Fisette, a gay county board member.
Mr. Ferguson met us cordially and accepted the marriage license application, but with regrets that Virginia law prevents him from issuing a license. He committed to keeping the application on file in hope that the law would change and allow him to issue a license.
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- Same sex marriage supporters gather at Arlington County courthouse.
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- James Fisher and Ron Bookbinder fill out a marriage application.
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- The crowd at the Fairfax County Courthouse.
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- Barb Brehm and Rev. Kären Rasmussen
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- Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UU Congregation of Fairfax
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- With Rev. Don Southworth, UUMA Executive Director
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- “Transform the world through acts of love and justice.”
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- “Therefore, I hereby deny your request for a marriage license.”
The second event was at the much larger Fairfax County courthouse. Fairfax is a far more conservative area. There, two long time members of the UU Congregation of Fairfax, Karen Rasmussen and Barb Brehm, also applied for a license. It was thrilling to see more than 300 people there to support them, including a whole contingent of UU ministers and scores of UU lay people. This event received a lot of press coverage, both in a local newspaper and a local television station.
I spoke briefly at each event, reminding people that I represented UU’s from more than 1000 congregations. I came away deeply moved by the courage of the same sex couples who were willing to speak out publicly and ask for their rights as citizens. I was also heartened to see people of faith from Presbyterian, Jewish, United Church of Christ and Baptist congregations participating.
Together we are a powerful voice for justice and compassion. Together we are making a difference. As the recent signing of equal marriage legislation in the State of Washington shows, we are making steady progress. The forces of tolerance and acceptance are going to prevail.
We continue to stand on the side of love. What a blessing it is to be part of this work.
3 comments
Dave Burwasser says:
February 17, 2012 at 4:27 pm (UTC -4 )
I’m delighted you are out in front here and very public about it.
Maik says:
March 4, 2012 at 7:33 pm (UTC -4 )
I think this is a pretty good epxmale of Larry Kramer’s criticism at Salon.com he is right but for reasons he does not quite understand. Marriage, being a fundamental’ right under the U.S. Constitution, is not a state’s rights’ issue and more than a water fountain that is THE classic segregationist argument that kept Jim Crow alive. I understand we must fight the fight wherever we find it but this matter should have been in the federal courts a long, loooong, time ago. But activists were chicken and feared another Bowers. How long did it take to overturn Bowers? Not as long as marriage has floundered in the states. This has wasted millions of dollars and precious time.
Mariko says:
April 11, 2012 at 6:44 pm (UTC -4 )
i think gay people sluhod be allowed to marry eachother and have it called marrage. I think its just discriminating when they dont allow it to be called marrage just because the two people are of the same sex. Marrage is supposed to be the union of two people who love eachother, it sluhodnt matter what your gender is.