Equal Partners in Faith says:
Same-sex marriage is a matter of equality
[8-4-03]
PRESS RELEASE
Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003
In their own words ...
"I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I
believe a marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to
codify that one way or the other." -- President Bush
"We are very disappointed that the
president is trying to further codify discrimination into law." -- Winnie
Stachelberg, Human Rights Campaign Political Director
"There is a real movement for same-sex
marriage...if the president doesn't intervene and...doesn't take leadership
in this area, we could lose marriage in this country the way we know it." --
Franklin Graham, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Campaign
"I am mindful that we're all sinners, and I
caution those who may try to take the speck out of the neighbor's eye when
they got a log in their own." -- President Bush
"While we respect President Bush's
religious views, it is unbecoming of the president of the United States to
characterize same-sex couples as 'sinners.'" -- Matt Foreman, Executive
Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We urge President Bush to abandon his
desire to codify into law discrimination against lesbians and gays," said
Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Director of Equal Partners in Faith. Following the
president's comments that marriage should only be between a man and a woman,
the Associated Press reported that government lawyers are exploring measures
to enshrine it into law.
"Many people of faith affirm the very
equality that President Bush and other secular leaders, in the name of
faith, wish to deny," said Rhue. "These leaders are entitled to their
personal beliefs about marriage, but should not be able to impose them
legally on other people of faith, or on other American citizens."
"As countries like the Netherlands and
Belgium extended marriages rights to all couples, regardless of the
partners' gender, same-sex couples in the United States deserve no less,"
said Rhue.
The Vatican also weighed in on the same-sex
marriage debate, announcing a campaign against gay marriage and gay
adoptions. In a 12-page document, which was issued in seven languages, the
Vatican urged Catholics and non-Catholics alike to unite to stem the
widening legal recognition of same-sex unions and the increased acceptance
of "homosexual lifestyles."
The document also states that: "Allowing
children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean
doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of
dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not
conducive to their full human development."
Responding to the document, The Associate
Press quoted Marianna Duddy, executive director of Dignity USA, an
organization of gay Catholics, as saying: "This new document is intended to
intimidate public officials across the globe into doing what the Vatican has
not been able to do on its own -- stem the growing tide for justice. It is a
tremendous shame that the leaders of our Church are becoming the vocal
proponents for intolerance and continuing discrimination."
"Unlike President Bush and the Pope, we
believe that public officials and people of faith have a moral duty to
respect loving relationships," said Rhue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EQUAL
PARTNERS in FAITH is a multi-racial national network of religious
leaders and people of faith committed to equality and diversity. Our diverse
faith traditions and shared religious values lead us to affirm and defend
the equality of all people, regardless of religion, race, ability, gender,
sexual orientation or gender identity. As people of faith, we actively
oppose the manipulation of religion to promote inequality and exclusion.
Equal Partners in Faith
1040 Harbor Drive
Annapolis, MD 21403
Phone: 877-501-4194
Fax: 1-443-782-0273
Email: EPFinfo@aol.com
Web: www.us.net/epf
