Gay-marriage ruling splits faith leaders
SOME REJOICE; OTHERS ARE 'SOUL-SICK'
By Mary Anne Ostrom


Nowhere is the opinion divide on gay marriage sharper than in the nation's religious communities. And last week's same-sex marriage ruling will do little to bring agreement on the definition of marriage, a social and religious touchstone that has torn apart families, congregations and entire dioceses.

"I don't expect the picture in the religious community to change very much with this decision," said Mary Tolbert, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry in Berkeley. "As more and more gays and lesbians marry, it may become less of an issue, but right now I don't expect much to change, maybe not for a decade."

While clergy addressing Bay Area liberal congregations this morning, including pioneers in the battle to win legal recognition of gay marriage, are celebrating the decision, many others, including evangelical and Catholic pastors, are decrying the ruling that they say promotes a gay agenda and is at odds with their religious doctrines.

Thursday's California Supreme Court ruling allowing state-sanctioned same-sex marriages, of course, has no legal consequences for organized religions. Still, the controversial topic has not stopped faith leaders from crossing into the political arena. Faith leaders on both sides of the divide are gearing up for the expected battle over a constitutional amendment, likely headed to the November ballot, that would attempt to overturn Thursday's ruling and write a ban into
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the state's constitution.

Several South Bay Christian churches are part of the umbrella group that worked to gather voter signatures needed to place the amendment on the ballot. The Secretary of State's Office is expected to announce in mid-June whether it has qualified. If it qualifies, the state's Roman Catholic bishops plan to urge their parishioners to support the measure, as they did in 2000 to pass Proposition 22, the law the state Supreme Court struck down Thursday.

"I'm soul-sick over this," said Pastor Dave Sawkins of Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos. "The Supreme Court is promoting a lifestyle that is destructive," he said. "We're not angry at homosexuals, we're trying to protect the family."

At San Francisco's Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, where the Rev. Cecil Williams has been officiating at same-sex weddings for 40 years, a special sermon is planned for this morning marking the landmark court ruling.

"My opinion is it should have come a long time ago," Williams said. "I think it is going to be more open," at least among some clergy. "We are rejoicing; there should be no barriers to same-sex marriages."

Even as secular opinions may be shifting toward gay marriage, many of the nation's biggest denominations remain resolutely against it, or are deeply split. Four years after Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, there has been no sudden shift to embrace such unions among major denominations that have long opposed the idea.

And where there has been movement to embrace gay rights, often headline-making fights have followed, leading to threats of breakups and secession, including among Presbyterian, Episcopalian and Lutheran branches.

The U.S. Episcopal Church split into camps following the 2003 ordination of a New Hampshire gay man, the Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson. Then in December 2007, the Episcopalian Diocese of San Joaquin, serving members from Lodi to Bakersfield, rebelled against the national church's support of gay rights. They voted to split from the national church.

As a sign of how deeply split many denominations are, faith communities often note if they're "welcoming" or "reconciling" to signal if they are gay-friendly.

During his American trip last month, Pope Benedict XVI told U.S. Catholic bishops to uphold traditional marriage. On Friday, he reiterated that message, saying, "The union of love, based on matrimony between a man and a woman, which makes up the family, represents a good for all society that cannot be substituted by, confused with, or compared to other types of unions."

California bishops, too, issued a statement in response to the ruling, saying it "opens the door for policy-makers to deconstruct traditional marriage and create another institution under the guise of equal protection."

But there are signs that just as public opinion is edging slowly toward accepting gay rights, including state-sanctioned gay marriages, so might religious communities.

Conservative Judaism, for example, recently voted to allow gay unions and ordain gay rabbis.

Rabbi Charles Familant, a Reform rabbi in Menlo Park, has been officiating at same-sex ceremonies for nearly two decades.

"It depends on the faith. There are some members of the clergy in liberal Protestant faiths who didn't want to do anything illegal, so now that it won't violate the law they may feel freer. There are more conservative religious groups, which I don't think will budge one inch," he said.

Many church leaders say their position against gay marriage is a moral one, based on the teachings in the Bible.

"The state is infringing on the church's rights to follow what the Bible says," said Pastor Mike McClure of Calvary Chapel San Jose. "I'm not condemning homosexuals."

Veteran San Jose gay rights activist Wiggsy Sivertsen, a San Jose State University counselor, and her partner, a San Jose police officer, are considering using their new right to marry to make a political point, and a spiritual one.

Saying she's not a religious woman, nor even that excited about marriage as an institution, Sivertsen and her partner may redo their commitment ceremony, held 12 years ago, as a marriage. A Methodist minister, a family friend, officiated over the first ceremony, and his church leaders criticized him for blessing same-sex unions, Sivertsen said. He has died, but his daughter is now a minister in the Unitarian church, which freely embraces gay marriage.

"If we recycle our ceremony, we'll ask her to do it."

Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.