DC Clergy Gear-Up for Gay Marriage Fight
Connor Ewing
November 03, 2009

Attendants read from the DC Marriage Litany during the "Souldful Voices for Marriage Equality: A Faith Celebration" event (IRD/Connor Ewing)

A hush came over the more than 500 people gathered at Asbury United Methodist Church on Thursday night as Reverend Robert Hardies of All Souls Church, Unitarian took to the pulpit.  The silence didn’t last long, though, as gospel music and impassioned speeches soon filled the air.  The latest round in Washington, DC’s fight for same-sex marriage had begun.

Thursday’s event, “Soulful Voices for Marriage Equality: A Faith Celebration,” was hosted by DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality, of which organization Rev. Hardies was a co-founder.  DC Clergy is a group of religious clerics from the nation’s Capital that has joined together to “declare that our faith calls us to affirm marriage equality for loving same-sex couples.”  Formed earlier this month, the group now boasts over 200 clergy representing churches, synagogues, mosques, and seminaries across the District. 

The purpose of the evening was to “strongly demonstrate the vocal, diverse, and wide-ranging support for marriage equality within DC’s religious community, as well as powerfully counter efforts by marriage equality opponents to disproportionately dominate the dialogue and divide the debate along lines of faith, race or background.”  Noting the diversity of the clergy and laity assembled, Hardies exulted, “How amazing it is that it is this struggle that has brought us together!”

Further describing the evening, Rev. Hardies added, “There’s this myth out there that you can’t be both pro-God and pro-Gay.  With this service we want to demonstrate the broad support in DC’s religious community for marriage equality.  We call upon the entire community to stand with us on the side of love.”

The night culminated in the responsive reading of the “DC Marriage Litany.”  In it, the audience reiterated the mission statement of DC Clergy and declared that they “affirm[ed] the right of loving same-gender couples to enter into such relationships on an equal basis with loving heterosexual couples.”  The litany also contained a passage, read by the leader, which stated that “the state should not favor the convictions of one religious group over another by denying individuals their fundamental civil right to marry whom they love.”  No reference was made to how the state should respond to this group, by claim no less religious, which wants to change the traditional definition of marriage.

It was no coincidence that the service was held at Asbury UMC, a historically black church.  Pointing to Asbury’s history as a former slave congregation, Rev. Dr. Louis Shockley acknowledged the black community’s relevance to the issue of same-sex marriage.  “This congregation has always stood for social justice,” he explained.  “We welcome all on this night to continue the march of justice by standing on the side of love.”

Arguably more explicit than the interfaith aspect of the event was its racial diversity.  Speaking to this, Rev. Hardies said, “I think the significance of our clergy group is its racial and cultural diversity…This point is important because the gay marriage issue is often painted as a racially divisive issue.” 

In an October 18 op-ed that ran in the Washington Post Hardies wrote, “[O]pponents of marriage equality have tried to use this issue to divide our communities along racial lines, and the media often play into their hands.  The gay community is repeatedly characterized as a group of well-to-do white folks, while all people of color are portrayed as heterosexuals who oppose gay marriage.  This is the myth of ‘black vs. white.’”

Last night’s event is the latest in a rapidly intensifying battle.  Nearly six months ago, the DC Council passed the Civil Marriage Equality Act, recognizing same-sex unions performed in states where gay marriage is legal.  Less than a month later, a referendum on the CMEA was defeated.   Since then religious groups have come together on both sides of the issue, seeking to articulate the positions of the faith traditions they represent.

In September supporters of traditional marriage filed the Marriage Initiative of 2009, which would overturn the CMEA and change the law so that, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in the District of Columbia.”  An outspoken supporter of the Marriage Initiative is Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland.  Jackson was among the clergy who petitioned the DC Board of Elections and Ethics to put the issue to a public vote earlier this week.

Responding to the Marriage Initiative, DC Council member David A. Catania introduced Bill 18-482, Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009.  If passed, Bill 18-482 would “amend the law to permit same-sex couples to marry in the District of Columbia; to ensure that no priest, minister, imam, or rabbi of any religious denomination and no official of any non-profit religious organization authorized to solemnize marriage shall be required to celebrate any marriage if doing so violates his or her right to the free exercise of religion.”  The bill would also discontinue the registration of domestic partnerships, allowing those currently registered as domestic partners to convert to a marriage free of charge.

On Monday, October 26, the Council heard testimony from one hundred religious and community leaders as well as concerned citizens.  Next Monday, November 3, the Council will hear from the other one hundred individuals who signed-up to give testimony.  In addition to the support of DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, ten of the thirteen members of the DC Council have indicated that they will vote to pass Bill 18-482.