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| Banner outside UUA headquarters |
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| The Rev. William G. Sinkford
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| The Rev. John Buehrens
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Clergy gather at UUA in support of Freedom to Marry
(Boston, MA – February 5, 2004) Dozens of clergy from across the state of Massachusetts filled Eliot Hall at UUA headquarters this morning for an event sponsored by the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry  . Representatives from the Episcopal, Jewish, Congregational, and Unitarian Universalist faith communities listened to updates on the legal and political implications of the November 18, 2003, decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized same-sex marriage and yesterday's clarification from the SJC that only marriage and not civil unions would be constitutionally acceptable. Leaders from these faith groups then held a press conference to give public witness of their support for same-sex marriage and to affirm their opposition to any amendment to the Massachusetts constitution that would legalize discrimination against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizens of the Commonwealth.
The Rev. John Buehrens, immediate past president of the UUA, represented the Association because current UUA president William Sinkford was traveling out-of-town on UUA business. After speaking of his own involvement in support of freedom to marry, Buehrens read a statement from Sinkford:
The citizens of Massachusetts and our state legislators need to know that there are many religious people, from many religious traditions in our state, who support the right of same-sex couples to marry. As the large banner on the side of our headquarters building proclaims, Unitarian Universalists believe that civil marriage is a civil right. We celebrate the Supreme Judicial Court's enlightened ruling in the Goodridge case, and we enthusiastically applaud yesterday's opinion from the Court that civil unions are not the solution to establishing full equality for same-sex couples. As we learned from the tragic history of racial discrimination in this country, separate but equal does not work.
Unitarian Universalists also oppose any effort to amend the Massachusetts Constitution to limit the rights of the same-sex couples. Our state Constitution has never in its long history been amended to limit the rights of an entire class of citizens, and now is no time to start. The American experience demonstrates an increasing understanding of the rights of our people. From the abolition of slavery through the extension of voting rights to women and the civil rights victories of the recent past, America holds out a vision to us all of the beloved community. Generation after generation of Americans have been willing to move us closer to the day that that beloved community will be a reality. Now is not the time to move backwards on civil rights for all citizens. The challenge of this generation is to move forward to the creation of a more open-hearted and affirming society.
I fully understand that there are people of faith in Massachusetts for whom same-sex marriage is seen as a violation of their religious beliefs. But please be clear that nothing in the Goodridge decision will alter the beliefs or practices of any religious group. Religious marriage will justly remain the prerogative of the individual faith community in accordance with their beliefs. And this is as it should be. But the task of our government and elected representatives is not to enshrine in our laws the religious point of view of any one faith; the role of our government is to dedicate itself to protecting the rights of all citizens.
I today call upon Unitarian Universalists in Massachusetts to continue to inform their elected representatives of our support for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and our opposition to any effort to amend the state constitution to prohibit this newly-won and justly-deserved freedom. As citizens of the commonwealth, as religious people, we Unitarian Universalists raise our voices to say: civil marriage is a civil right.
The press conference at the UUA was covered by all Boston-area television stations and was featured on the noon news programs. It is likely that the coverage will be repeated on the evening and nightly news shows as well.
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