Court Ruling On Gay Marriage

Sparks Soul Searching In Local Churches

By Shannon Hicks

Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled on October 10 that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.

The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut’s civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Governor M Rodi Rell said on October 10, shortly after the ruling in Kerrigan et al vs the Connecticut Department of Health (17716), that she disagreed with the ruling but would not fight it.

“The Supreme Court has spoken,” the governor said in a statement. “I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision — either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution — will not meet with success.”

Lawmakers and legislators must now follow the rule of the land. But those who are approached to perform gay marriages in the Constitution State now have a little bit of leeway. Many ministers and justices of the peace have the option of officiating at the marriage of a gay couple or of declining the opportunity to perform the marriage. Of the churches that were contacted recently by The Bee, some offered their response to the recent ruling while others declined to comment on the issue that continues to hold the attention of many.

The Catholic Church’s stance is perhaps best known. The church firmly opposes gay marriage and the social acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex relationships. The church defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.

It teaches, however, that homosexual persons deserve respect, justice, and pastoral care. The Vatican and Pope Benedict have repeatedly spoken out against the growing number of places that recognize same-sex marriages. In May, one day after a California court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, Pope Benedict firmly restated the Catholic Church’s position that only unions between a man and a woman are moral.

In reacting to the decision earlier this month The Connecticut Catholic Conference, which represents the more than 1.3 million Catholic bishops, clergy, religious, and laity of the state of Connecticut — including St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Parish in Newtown — issued a statement expressing its extreme disappointment in the decision.

“This decision is in direct conflict with the position of our state legislature and courts of other states and is a terribly regrettable exercise in judicial activism,” wrote Michael C. Culhane, the executive director of the conference. “Four people have not just extended a supposed civil right to a particular class of individuals, but have chosen to redefine the institution of marriage. The Connecticut Supreme Court has taken upon itself to make a determination that other courts throughout our nation have felt should be made through the political process.”

The statement later also said in part: “It appears our State Supreme Court has forgotten that courts should interpret laws and legislatures should make laws.”

This week the Catholic Conference is focusing on November 4, and the first ballot question, which will ask Connecticut voters if the state should hold a Constitutional Convention to consider major revisions to the state’s highest law. Should the initiative pass, the Supreme Court ruling concerning same-sex marriages could certainly be one of the first items to be challenged.

“It is the Catholic Conference’s position to encourage the Catholic population as well as the entire citizenry of Connecticut for vote Yes on November 4 in favor of this Constitutional Convention,” Mr Culhane told The Bee on October 29. “Secondarily, we wish to pursue an initiative and referendum proposal at the convention.

“We’re interested not so much in a specific issue, but a Yes vote and to pursue the initiative in a referendum.”

Many of Newtown’s churches and its temple are looking at new territory with the recent ruling. Policies, opinions, and decisions within Newtown’s religious community are as varied as the traditions and beliefs that formed each church.

As a member of the United Church of Christ, Newtown Congregational Church generally follows the resolutions accepted by the full UCC. It is also allowed to make its own decisions concerning most issues, however.

“Because we’re Congregationalists, every church makes its own decision,” said Matthew S. Crebbin, the senior pastor for NCC. “On the statewide level, churches at the [UCC] conference have voted over a number of years in support of providing legal protections to same-sex couples, and we are supportive of this ruling.”

Pastor Crebbin said that individual churches within the UCC tradition have in fact made their own policies on this very issue.

“Some have voted and made decisions to be what they call open and affirming, which offers public support. Other churches don’t want to have anything to do with [this issue], and others still are in the middle,” he said. Newtown Congregational Church, he said, is still deciding on its official policy, but its clergy is supportive of those who wish to marry, regardless of sexual orientation.

“We have some folks [in the congregation] who are very strongly supportive of the decision, and others who would be strongly against it, and others who are in the middle,” said Rev Crebbin. “I think our congregation is one that is continuing that conversation.”

NCC has not made a decision, for instance, about marrying gay couples in its sanctuary.

“As a community we haven’t decided what we will do about that,” he said. “As a pastor, personally, I would be open to celebrating and providing a ceremony for a same-sex couple. But I wouldn’t be authorized at this point to offer that in the sanctuary itself.”

Clergy at Newtown United Methodist Church feel similarly.

The Reverend Sue Klein, a deacon at Newtown United Methodist Church, is one of more than 275 clergy who have signed a Religious Declaration on Marriage Equality produced by Connecticut Clergy for Marriage Equality. The document, in part, supports marriage “because it creates stable, committed relationships; provides a means to share economic resources; and nurtures the individual, the couple, and children. …There is no difference in marriages between a man and a woman, two men, or two women. As our traditions affirm, where there is love, God is in our midst.”

The list has representatives of nearly every church, including Episcopal, Presbyterian, UCC, Unitarian Universalist, an “independent Catholic” from St Joseph of Arimathea Independent Catholic Church of New Haven, American Ecumenical Catholic Church, Reform Judaism, and Jewish temple representatives as well.

While the Methodist church as a whole has language in its discipline that “basically prohibits clergy from performing gay marriages,” said Rev Klein, “I don’t agree on that.”

While she has not yet been asked to perform a civil union, or now a gay marriage, Rev Klein said she would “think twice if asked to do this.”

Reverend Dick Yerrington, the associate pastor at NUMC, has his own opinion on the issue.

“My personal feeling is marriage, per se, is not the answer,” he said. “Certainly I believe that gay couples ought to be recognized, and that there should be some kind of ceremony, but my feeling is that marriage — holy marriage — is not a word that we would use, that I would use. Holy matrimony is not the word I would use.”

Rev Yerrington is not fully against same-sex couples, however.

“Couples who are committed to one another ought to have some kind of formal recognition,” he said. “Male-female couples who find lifetime companionship together ought to be recognized.”

Reverend James A. Solomon is another pastor still making up his mind about the issue. He has friends on both sides of the discussion, he said, and has considered their stories.

“I don’t marry every heterosexual couple that approaches me,” said Rev Solomon, the pastor of New Hope Community Church. “I’m not a wedding factory. I approach every [couple] on a case-by-case basis.”

Rev Solomon was surprised, he said, not only at the recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision but also at the process in which it was made. His thoughts paralleled, somewhat, those of the Connecticut Catholic Conference.

“I was surprised that the Supreme Court justices would create this new rule without first going through the legislative process that would ensure proper representation of the beliefs of our citizens when it comes to the definition of marriage,” he said. “The night of the ruling I noticed that ABC News reported that 60 percent of their polled citizens of Connecticut disagreed with the ruling, whereas only 40 percent agreed.

“My understanding is that Supreme Court justices are charged with the responsibility of interpreting the law, rather than creating new laws, as they are not above the law,” he continued. “They perhaps had an agenda not representative of the public’s desires on such things.”

Like his colleagues at NCC and NUMC, Rev Solomon has not yet been asked to perform a gay marriage ceremony, which is OK with him.

“I think it’s too soon to say” how he and New Hope would respond to that request, he said. “We will cross that bridge when, and if, we come to it, as I know that the ruling could be overturned if a majority vote Yes for a Constitutional Convention on November 4th’s ballot question.”

What Now?

So now what? What happens with couples who have been legally joined in civil union since October 1, 2005, when Connecticut’s civil union law went into effect? Does their status automatically change to married? Will they need to file new paperwork? What will the fee be for that paperwork?

When can couples who are not yet joined become legally married gay couples? What paperwork will they need to file, and what will the fees for those certificates cost?

What will gay marriage license applications include?

On Tuesday, October 28, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal offered answers to a number of legal questions still being asked by state officials and residents regarding the status of the Kerrigan case ruling (see adjacent sidebar).

Between the new paperwork and the standings of different churches not only in Newtown but across the state, the issue is certainly still being played out. Some important points have yet to be finalized. Newtown Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia said last week that she still does not know when her office will begin issuing marriage licensed for gay couples.

“We haven’t received official notification yet,” Ms Aurelia said. “We don’t know what forms we’ll be using. We don’t know if people have a civil union, if there will be a charge to change their status.

“All I received was a quick blurb saying it’s passed and more information is coming.”