UCC ministers promote marriage equality in Maryland
Written by Staff Reports
February 10, 2012
Two UCC ministers are taking center stage today (Feb. 10) in Maryland, as the state legislature listens to testimony in favor of marriage equality. Maryland is considering upgrading the status of same-gender couples from domestic partnerships to full marriage.
The Rev. John R. Deckenback, Conference Minister of the UCC's Central Atlantic Conference, and the Rev. Jan Daffern from Evangelical Reformed UCC in Frederick, Md., are testifying in support of H.B. 438, the Maryland Civil Marriage Protection Act.
"Marriage equality is about real people. This is not an abstraction … I believe this legislature is on the cusp of taking a great positive step for the citizens of Maryland,” Deckenback says in his prepared statement. "This is about pastors across this state who want all in their flock to be able to celebrate legal, civil marriages without equivocation.”
Evangelical Reformed UCC, under the lead of Senior Pastor the Rev. Barbara Kershner Daniel, has taken a local lead in promoting marriage equality this year.
Maryland is one of 10 state legislatures in the United States considering the marriage equality issue in 2012. Deckenback and Daffern are just two of many religious leaders advocating for the Maryland bill to legalize same-gender marriage.
A coalition of gay rights groups, Marylanders for Marriage Equality, released a television ad earlier this week featuring the testimonies of interfaith clergy from across the religious spectrum. In the video, religious leaders from Jewish, white and African-American traditions say that their gay and lesbian members deserve the right to marry and that, under Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed law, churches would still have the right to marry or refuse to marry according to their religious traditions.
"I'm proud of the UCC leadership stepping up for marriage equality in Maryland. Equality and fairness matter,” says the Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer, executive for the UCC's Office for Health and Wholeness Advocacy. "It matters that same gender loving couples have access to one of the most basic symbols of citizenship, a marriage license, and all the rights and responsibilities that come with it.”
Eight states, including the District of Columbia, currently recognize same-gender marriage (Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington). It is considered a legal civil union in five states: Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
In eight states (California, Colorado, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Wisconsin), same-gender couples are given registered domestic partnership status, which protects some marriage rights.
| |
