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May 24, 2006

Interfaith coalition leads petition drive against FMA

Interfaith coalition leads petition drive against FMA

Countering conservative Christians' stronghold on the issue of same-sex marriage, an interfaith coalition of Protestant, Jewish, Sikh, and Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay leaders is orchestrating a petition drive in opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment. Clergy for Fairness, which represents some 1,600 faith leaders, announced the effort at a press conference in Washington, D.C., Monday, The New York Times reports.

''When one group is singled out for discrimination, it's not long before other groups will be singled out too,'' Rabbi Craig Axler of Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, Pa., said at the press conference, according to the Times. ''It's the first time we see the Constitution in danger of enshrining discrimination against one party, one class, and to remain silent as a Jew is unconscionable.''

That sentiment was echoed by the 34 other representatives for Clergy for Fairness present at the event. Although they represented different faiths and said they have differing opinions on homosexuality and same-sex marriage, they all decried Congress's attempt to write discrimination against gays into the U.S. Constitution.

At the group's Web site, visitors can print out postcards to send to their members of Congress to register their opposition to the marriage amendment, which is scheduled to come up for a Senate vote the week of June 5. The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last week in a party-line vote, after a closed-door hearing that sent Democratic senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin fleeing in disgust. (The Advocate)

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