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)