Capitol Hill Blue Forums We shall overcome

CONCORD, N.H. — After a crushing defeat by two votes, supporters hope to succeed Wednesday when a second vote is taken on expanded religious protections needed to win the governor’s signature on a bill to allow gay marriage.

The vote could be the last chance this year to make New Hampshire the sixth state to allow gays to marry.

The Senate, which takes up the protection bill first, is expected to pass it. But the vote in the 400-member House will depend on attendance. Both sides have been lobbying representatives hard.

Let me catch you up on the Prop 8 scorecard. California became one of the first states to allow same sex marriage. After 18 thousand same sex couples were married, opponents got together to nip all this marrying in the bud, so they got the required number of signatures, got Prop 8 on the ballot and after the two sides spent a combined 83 million dollars, California voters passed a resolution that says: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

What a giant waste of time and money. It’s also cruel. One day people had a right to marry, the next day they didn’t. What California did was akin to what Lucy has been doing to Charlie Brown for decades. “C’mon, kick the ball, Chuck.”

Then on May 26th, the California Supreme Court upheld the ban on same sex marriage but said that couples married when the statute was legal are still married. So it is legal for these 18 thousand couples, but that’s it. Don’t come knocking on California’s door if you want a same sex marriage, we’re maxed out.

Please, someone tell me they’re kidding.

As a Catholic, I am troubled by injustice in any form. Not allowing gay marriage smacks of discrimination. Is denying the rights of others because of their sexual orientation really the best way to spread the gospel? To say that gay marriage is immoral is one thing, but to make it illegal is another. Many marriages are “immoral” from a Biblical perspective, yet we don’t seek legislation against them. Nor do we attempt to outlaw divorce, for that matter. Actually, I think divorce is a pretty good model for how the Church should respond to the gay marriage issue. We insist that divorce is immoral, yet we do not try to prevent the courts from allowing it. Our response to gay marriage ought to be the same.

I’m not saying that gay marriage is morally right; the Bible is pretty clear about God’s design for marriage and human sexuality. What I’m suggesting is that perhaps the gay marriage debate is one from which we Catholics ought to excuse ourselves, at least on the issue of legality. If we actively support gay marriage, we encourage immoral behavior. If we actively fight it, we throw up more obstacles between Christ and the lost.

After all, I remember Jesus criticizing divorce specifically; I do not, however, remember Him demanding that Pontius Pilate outlaw it. We need to live our morality, not legislate it.

A diverse coalition of more than 100 clergy gathered in a Southeast Washington church yesterday to show their support for same-sex marriages in the District.
"We declare that our faith calls us to affirm marriage equality for loving, same-sex couples," said the Rev. Dennis Wiley, pastor of the Covenant Baptist Church, as he stood in the pulpit of his church before religious leaders from all eight wards of the city.

Harvard University will announce tomorrow that it will establish an endowed chair in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies, in what is believed to be the first professorship of its kind in the country.

Harvard President Drew G. Faust described the academic post as “an important milestone” in an ongoing effort by faculty, students, and alumni to raise the profile of LGBT studies at the university.

The university has received a $1.5 million gift from the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus, a 4,900 member group, to endow the F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Professorship of Gender and Sexuality. Matthiessen, who Harvard says stands out as an unusual example of a gay man who lived his sexuality as an “open secret” in the mid-20th century, was an American studies scholar and literary critic at Harvard and chaired the undergraduate program in history and literature.

A growing number of colleges have begun offering academic programs related to sex, sexuality, and sexual orientation, though LGBT studies is a relatively young discipline. The City University of New York began the first gay and lesbian studies program in 1986.

The New Hampshire state Senate this morning approved a compromise gay marriage bill by a 14-10 party line vote. Now we’re just waiting to see what the N.H. House will do.

The vote comes about two weeks after the House defeated an earlier amendment to a gay marriage bill that had already passes both houses because Gov. John Lynch said he would veto gay marriage unless the amendment was added to strengthen protections for those with religious objections with gay marriage.

That House vote two weeks ago was 188 to 186, and today’s vote on the revised amendment is expected to be just about that close.

New Hampshire became the sixth state in the nation today to approve gay marriage, after legislation was enacted by both the state House and Senate and then signed by Governor John Lynch.

"Today we're standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear they will receive the same rights, responsibilities and respect under New Hampshire law," Lynch said this afternoon before signing the bill at about 5:20 p.m. "It is my hope and my belief that New Hampshire will once again come together to embrace tolerance and respect and to stand against discrimination."

The new law makes New Hampshire the sixth state in the nation to allow gays to marry.

Shortly after 4 p.m., the House had voted 198-176 for the bill. The bill had been passed earlier in the day by the Senate.

BOSTON (Reuters) - The expansion of legal gay marriage across New England could deliver an economic windfall by attracting a youthful "creative class" of workers to a region with an aging population.

In the past year, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have joined Massachusetts, which in 2004 became the first U.S. state to allow same-sex weddings, in blessing gay and lesbian weddings.

That makes the region the first in the United States where same-sex couples can move from one state to another while retaining marriage benefits.
....
The spread of gay marriage could serve as a recruiting tool for universities, health care companies and financial services firms that dominate the region's economy, experts said.

BOSTON (Reuters) - The expansion of legal gay marriage across New England could deliver an economic windfall by attracting a youthful "creative class" of workers to a region with an aging population.

In the past year, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have joined Massachusetts, which in 2004 became the first U.S. state to allow same-sex weddings, in blessing gay and lesbian weddings.

That makes the region the first in the United States where same-sex couples can move from one state to another while retaining marriage benefits.
....
The spread of gay marriage could serve as a recruiting tool for universities, health care companies and financial services firms that dominate the region's economy, experts said.