News
2005-11-22
Virginia pastor
stands up for gays
An Arlington,
Va., pastor has stopped performing weddings for
straights to protest his state's ban on same-sex
marriage.
A church pastor
and his governing council in Arlington, Va., are fed up
with that state's antigay laws and attempts to ban same-sex
marriage. So in a move that surprised even the most
die-hard progressives at Clarendon Presbyterian
Church, there will no longer be any weddings performed at
all, TheWashington Post reports. Straight couples can
have their unions blessed at the church in a
"celebration ceremony," but they must be officially
married by a justice of the peace at a courthouse.
In addition, Pastor David Ensign will renounce
his state authority to marry couples. "What we're
saying is that in the commonwealth of Virginia, the
laws that govern marriage are unjust and unequal,"
Ensign, who has served as the church's pastor since 2003,
told the newspaper.
The Virginia general assembly is gearing up to
debate an amendment to its constitution defining
marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The measure cleared the legislative body during the
last session and will have to be approved again before
heading to voters in 2006 or 2007.
Opponents of Ensign's stance said it will have
little impact. "I think it's a shame that this
clergyman would seek to undermine traditional
marriage, which is the foundation of American
society," Republican state senator Nick Rerras, one of
the amendment's sponsors, told the Post. "It's a terrible message to send to our youth."
However, Harry Knox, director of the religion
and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a
national gay advocacy organization, told the
newspaper, "It is certainly a powerful witness on his part
to take the personal risks that are involved in doing
that, both in his denomination and within his local
congregation," Knox said. "I applaud him for that."
(Advocate.com)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1