Subject: IWG Regina Brett Letter Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 22:45:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Chris Purdom The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 2 congregations, 5 religious organizations and 35 clergy from 12 faiths and denominations. If you are in the general Philadelphia area and represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added - all faiths are welcome. We will also be happy to help start similar organizations in other areas. Visit the web page at http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/ or http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/religion/orgs/iwg/ An almost identical letter went to the editors. August 3, 1996 Regina Brett Akron Beacon Journal 44 E. Exchange Street Akron, OH 44328 Dear Ms. Brett: In your July 25 column you neglected to note the original source of support for same-sex marriages: religious institutions. Around the country religious bodies have performed marriages for same-sex couples for some time now, and want those marriages to be as legal as the ones they perform for different-sex couples. Clearly the people performing these weddings have no problem with being "ready" for same-sex marriage. Reconstructionist Judaism, Reformed Judaism, the Unitarian Universalists, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, Unity Fellowship Churches, and the Evangelical Anglican Church in America, as well as many individual Quaker, Zen- Buddhist, Neo-Pagan, Catholic, Old Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Southern Baptist, American Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopalian congregations and clergy are willing to perform, and in many cases have for many years performed, same-sex marriages. As with the civil rights struggles of the 1960's, social progress is going to be driven by the churches. America wasn't ready for the civil rights movement, but that didn't make it wrong. In fact, popular support for same-sex marriage is higher today than support for interracial marriage was in 1983 (sixteen years after laws against interracial marriage were struck down). Same-sex marriages have been performed since at least the dawn of Christianity, and in America they will be legally recognized in our lifetimes. The amount of energy some people are expending trying to stave off inevitable justice would be better spent preparing others for the future. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators