Religious, civil
rights groups support California gay couples'
right to marry

More than 250 religious and civil rights groups on Monday came to the defense of gay and lesbian couples' right to marry in California by filing eight friend of the court briefs. The California court of appeal is hearing the state's appeal of the March 2005 decision by San Francisco superior court judge Richard Kramer, which held that California's current statutory ban on marriage for same-sex couples violates the California constitution. "I am proud to join with other civil rights leaders in standing up for fairness and dignity for all," said Alice Huffman, president of the California Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "Never before has such a diverse array of groups stepped forward to call for an end to the unfair treatment faced by same-sex couples and their families when they are denied the ability to marry." The group filed an amicus brief asking the court of appeal to apply the ruling in Perez v. Sharp, the 1948 California supreme court decision striking down laws banning interracial marriage, to the current case. The NAACP's brief was authored by longtime civil rights advocate Jon B. Eisenberg. More than 200 local, regional, and national religious organizations and clergy also filed a brief arguing that the constitutional principle of religious freedom supports the right of same-sex couples to marry. Groups joining the brief include the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Unitarian Church, the California Council of Churches, California Faith for Equality, the Ecumenical Catholic Church, and the Buddhist group Soka Gakkai International-USA. The brief was authored by a team of attorneys under the leadership of Raoul D. Kennedy. "There is great diversity among people of faith throughout California on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples," said Rick Schossler, executive director of the California Council of Churches and California Church IMPACT, which represent 50 Protestant and Orthodox judicatories throughout California with more than 1.5 million members. "It is a matter of religious freedom to allow faith communities to practice their faith by performing and blessing marriages between same-sex couples who wish to make a commitment to each other, while allowing denominations that oppose such marriages to refrain from so doing." (Advocate.com)