Last July 10, 2005, I had the privilege of performing a commitment ceremony for two friends of mine on their 50th anniversary in their apartment in New York City. Surrounded by their dear friends, they spoke of their life together, their love for each other, and their hopes that one day I would be able to perform a legal wedding ceremony for them. They had had a civil union in Vermont, they were registered as domestic partners in NYC, I offered the same blessings as I would at any marriage, they had shared an entire lifetime, BUT, they still wanted to call themselves married in the eyes of the state.
And I had hoped that I'd get to perform just such a ceremony after the Court of Appeals decided the LAMBDA case. Instead, the Court earlier today ruled 4 -2 that current law in NY does not permit gay and lesbian couples to marry.
My heart broke when I read that news. Not just for my friends Peter and Kenneth, not just for the couples I married in New Paltz in 2004 under threat of arrest, but for all the couples and all the families who were once again told that they really didn't deserve the same rights as straight couples and families. I believe that civil marriage is a civil right, but more -- I believe that when love is present, the sacred is in our midst. Surely God hears the cries of those families once again denied today.
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It was my joy and privilege to pastor a truly inclusive church before I retired. That church was a place where gay couples seemed to come and feel welcomed.
Pastoring those families was an inspiration in so many ways. Now I'm sitting here, in light of the ruling, weeping at the lessening of their personhood.
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