Finally for this week, I'm filing this under Good News but it really should get an award for cleverness in making the heads of rightwingers explode.The United Church of Christ along with a coalition of clergy members has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, arguing the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is a violation of their religious freedom.
The clergy members said that they'd like to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies in their congregations, but that they can't because of the "unjust law."
The Rev. J. Bennett Guess, executive minister with the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ, which has over a million parishoners, said that "North Carolina's marriage laws are a direct affront to freedom of religion" because, he went on,it is important that any person that comes into community life of a United Church of Christ congregation be afforded equal pastoral care and equal opportunity to religious services that clergy provide.You tell 'em, Rev.
Besides the UCC, a dozen clergy members and same sex-couples who want to marry were listed as plaintiffs.
Seventeen states allow gay marriage, and federal judges have struck down bans in Michigan, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia, with all those cases currently on appeal.
Sources cited in links:
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/04/28/lawsuit-unusual-approach-against-gay-marriage-ban/20877178/
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