Church Not Signing Marriage License To Protest Ban On Gay Marriage

[OhioChick]

POSTED: 7:52 am EST January 30, 2009
UPDATED: 1:38 pm EST January 30, 2009

CLEVELAND -- Clergy at a church in Cleveland are protesting the state's ban on gay marriage by refusing to sign state marriage licenses.

Ministers at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ said they won't sign the licenses until gay unions are legal in Ohio.

Heterosexual couples exchanging wedding vows at the church will need an additional civil ceremony by a justice of the peace or a judge to make their union legal.

The move was approved by an overwhelming voice vote during a congregational meeting last weekend.

Head pastor Rev. John Tamilio III calls it a civil-rights protest.

Ohio's 2004 gay marriage ban is considered one of the toughest in the country.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/18602152/detail.html

[sakabatou]

1. Love it!

"You don't want gay couples to get married? Fine, then no one will be married!"

[Jamastiene]

2. K&R

[SacredCow]

3. Pardon my french.....

but nice fucking angle! LOVE it!

K&R

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

4. Some UU ministers have been doing this for a while now.

The first I remember was Rev. Rhett Baird when he was in Fayetteville, Ark. at least five years ago. He's in Macon, GA now and doing the same thing. Good to see that it's catching on.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Personally, I think clergy should be stripped of this legal power

In most states -- all states, probably -- witnessing the signatures on a marriage license is nothing more than a notarial act: the couple swear an oath to live together as a married couple then sign a civil document, this vow and signature witnessed by two others and someone authorized by the state to take such a jurat. In Maine, North Carolina and Florida, this actually is a notarial act, with any notary public allowed to officiate at a marriage.

I think clergy should be stripped of this power, with it going to notaries public. If a clergyman is also a notary, then s/he could countersign a marriage license by virtue of that office, rather than by religious right. If s/he is not, the couple would need to have a notary public present when they swear their oath and it would be the notary, not the clergyman, who signed the license.

[Prophet 451]

6. Agreed, but...

At least while they have this power, they're doing something positive with it.

[johnnie]

7. K&R

Good on them!