Brent Childers said he believes his evangelical Christian values of compassion and respect teach him to support same-sex marriage. (Photo courtesy of Faith in America)
WASHINGTON — It’s time to stop using religion as a weapon to oppose same-sex marriage and see that religious beliefs and their strong foundation in justice actually support gay and lesbian unions, according to a number of leaders representing religions ranging from evangelical Christianity to Judaism.
Brent Childers, an evangelical Christian, said he once used religious tenets to support prejudice toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, but “I realized those attitudes were not in keeping with my religious values by causing harm using religious teaching.”
He said supporting same-sex marriage is in keeping with his faith because “what’s essential is those core principals of love, compassion and respect for others.”
Now, as executive director of Faith in America, he leads a group whose mission statement sets this goal: to “emancipate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from bigotry as disguised by religious truth.”
He is among the more than 70 religious leaders who have endorsed the Oct. 11 National Equality March on behalf of gay rights. Several faith groups are planning religious events in the Washington area Oct. 9-11, including an interfaith service before the march.
The two-mile march on the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 11 will culminate in a rally outside the Capitol.
Speakers will include Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was killed in a hate crime in 1998, members of the New York City and Los Angeles city councils and gay activists Clive Jones and David Mixner. Regional groups around the country are organizing trips to Washington, as well as events in their own cities on Oct. 11.
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It’s about more than politics: Howard Vine, chairman of President Bill Clinton’s post-election transition team in 1992, and a current member of Faith in America, outlines the importance of the National Equality March and why his religious beliefs led him to support same-sex marriage.
(Video and audio by Michelle Minkoff/MNS)
The power of familial support: Chicago-based comedian Lianna Carrera, 24, headlined a fundraiser for an Oct. 9-11 march in Washington promoting same-sex marriage and talked about reconciling her Southern Baptist roots with her identity as a lesbian.
The march is preceded by two days of events that include workshops on lobbying tactics and media training. On Oct. 10 there will be a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery to honor service members discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which requires the military to discharge any service member if it is discovered he or she is gay.
“We believe all people are created in God’s image. Doing anything less than fighting for equality for all is not living into our calling,” said Kareem Murphy, one of the members of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington who are organizing members of various Christian denominations to attend the march and related events Oct. 9-11.
“Christ ministered to people who are considered outsiders, and we want to continue that ministry,” he said.
Robin McGehee, co-director of the march, said it took years to reconcile her Baptist faith and being a lesbian. “I finally understood I could have both uniquely and effectively and not have to choose one over the other.”
Another march supporter, Faith in America founder Mitchell Gold, said, “There’s been a real mobilization of faith groups saying faith is equal to justice.”
Many rabbis also have endorsed the march, including Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Denise Eger, president of the Pacific Association for Reform Rabbis. Eger said Jewish people have been involved in advocating for same-sex marriage since the 1960s because of their faith’s history.
“We’ve had the ultimate experience of dehumanization,” she said. “What’s happening now, that’s alarm bells. What’s next?”
The Rev. Irene Monroe, a doctoral candidate at Harvard Divinity School, likened the same-sex marriage debate to the 1960s struggle for African-American civil rights. She said there were religious teachings that supported slavery as well as the prevention of interracial marriage, but that doesn’t mean those teachings should still be observed.
“A lot of the bigotry that we as LGBT people face is based on religion,” she said.
Molly Kropp, 35, who attended a Sept. 26 fundraiser for the march, said her rationale for support of same-sex marriage was a question of morality. “It should just be about common respect, and spreading awareness of the idea of equality.”