Coalition Of Black Pastors Speaks Out Against Gay Marriage
Kate Abbey-Lambertz ("The Huffington Post," May 15, 2014)
A coalition of black pastors have condemned gay marriage, saying it's
incorrect to compare the fight for equal marriage rights to the civil rights
movement.
The Christian, conservative Thomas More Law Center filed an amicus brief in
Michigan's gay marriage trial Wednesday on behalf of 110 black pastors
from Detroit, elsewhere in Michigan, and Ohio. The state's ban on gay marriage
was overturned in March by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman, but the
ruling was put on hold as the case is considered by the U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals.
In the brief, the coalition calls for a reversal of Friedman's decision.
They argue that the marriage equality movement is inaccurately equated with
the civil rights struggle, and that such comparison ignores the acute
suffering of blacks throughout American history.
"The fact that American media or other factions erroneously characterize
the traditional meaning of 'marriage' as being on par with the civil rights
deprivations of Black Americans does not make it so," the brief states.
"Comparing the dilemmas of same-sex couples to the centuries of discrimination
faced by Black Americans is a distortion of our country’s cultural and
legal history."
Observers have pointed out that several arguments used against gay marriage
in the present day echo those used against interracial marriage in the
1960s, particularly that it could be harmful to children. In their brief, the
pastors address the civil rights victory of Loving v. Virginia, the 1967
case in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws restricting interracial
marriage, but say it doesn't legally extend equal access to marriage for
LGBT individuals.
The brief goes on to argue that it is false to equate sexuality and race,
because the former is not an "immutable" characteristic.
"A person’s sexuality and sexual preferences, however, are not their state
of being, or even an immutable aspect of who they are, as race is," it
reads. "The truth of the matter is that it is merely activity in which they
engage. The state has no responsibility to promote any person’s sexual
proclivities, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise."
A group of the pastors addressed their legal challenge Wednesday at a rally
at the First Baptist World Changers International Church in Detroit. Rev.
Stacey Swimp of Flint said gay marriage would “destroy the backbone of our
society," according to the Detroit Free Press. Another pastor said
religious leaders who support homosexuality are "the enemy of God."
In their brief, they cite states' ability to restrict polygamy and incest
as reasons why they should also be allowed to ban gay marriage:
All states routinely require certain qualifications to obtain a marriage
license and disallow certain individuals who do not meet those
qualifications. States discriminate against first cousins, for example, by not
allowing
them to marry. States discriminate against bigamists, polygamists, and
polyamorists in the licensing of marriage, and it is within the states’ right
to
do so.
Both the Michigan Catholic Conference and a national group representing
religious leaders also filed briefs Wednesday that support reinstating the ban
on gay marriage, which was passed in 2004 when 59 percent of Michigan
voters approved a proposal defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
In the decade since, support for gay marriage has grown in the state and
nationwide. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in February found that
support for gay marriage has increased in the last several years among certain
Christian groups, including black Protestants, where support is at 43
percent, up from 32 percent in 2013. Fifty-nine percent of Catholics surveyed
also favor gay marriage.
A survey conducted by Michigan State University earlier this year found
that 47 percent of black Michigan residents support gay marriage, up from 31
percent in 2012.
The challenge to Michigan's law began in 2012, when lesbian couple Jayne
Rowse and April DeBoer sued to jointly adopt their children. Friedman instead
invited them to challenge the constitutionality of the gay marriage ban.
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[RC] Black pastors oppose homosexual (travesty of) marriage
BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community Fri, 16 May 2014 13:31:25 -0700
