May 26, 2009
By Pat McCaughan

Reactions to the California Supreme Court's 6-1 ruling to ban same-gender marriage but uphold the existing unions of 18,000 gay couples ran the gamut May 26, from anger and sadness to "profound disappointment" and support across the state's Episcopal community.

The court's decision reportedly sparked protest rallies across the nation as well as some parts of Canada from marriage equality supporters. They vowed to overturn the contentious Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." It was approved by 52 percent of those voting last November.

"We are far from the end of this struggle," said Bishop Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California (which only covers part of the state), where an interfaith gathering of 300 on May 25 held a prayer vigil at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. "The Episcopal Church stands in solidarity with the disenfranchised," Andrus said in a prepared statement.

Bishops of the state's five other Episcopal dioceses – El Camino Real, Los Angeles, Northern California, San Diego, and San Joaquin – had issued a joint statement previously, expressing opposition to Proposition 8 and support for same-gender marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa have legalized same-sex marriage and it will become legal later this year in Vermont and Maine.

After the ruling, Bishop Jon Bruno of Los Angeles released a statement decrying the "small majority" that rejected marriage equality. "I feel blessed that the California Supreme Court has upheld the marriages of gay and lesbian couples that occurred in our state last year. Although short-lived, it is marriage equality for some of the gay community in California, and I will work to have these rights returned for all gay and lesbian people," he said.

The Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity USA, an Episcopal advocacy group for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, called the ruling "appalling" and charged that the state's top court had abdicated its responsibility to offer equal protection to all California citizens.

"Today's ruling by the California Supreme Court does not just affect the lives of same-sex couples hoping to live happily ever after with the love of their life; it sets a terrible precedent that a simple majority of voters can relegate millions of citizens to second class status," said Russell, associate rector at All Saints Church in Pasadena.

"Until ‘liberty and justice for all' really means ‘all' we are not yet the nation we are called to be and today was a sad step backward on that arc of history that generations of equality leaders have told us bends toward justice."

Justices had to decide three issues: was Proposition 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the state constitution; did the measure violate the separation of powers doctrine under the state constitution; and if not unconstitutional what effect, if any, did it have on the marriages of same-gender couples prior to its November 2008 passage?

Sandia Tuttle, 66, a parishioner at St. Dunstan's Church in San Carlos in the Diocese of San Diego, paused while babysitting her grandchildren to say she was "impressed" with the Supreme Court decision.

"It's very important that domestic partnerships have the same rights and privileges as everybody else, but I think that marriage in a church should be a man and a woman. There are no instances of those kinds of blessings, historically or Scripturally speaking," said Tuttle, an English composition professor at Grossmont Community College.

"I do seriously believe that the church should be in the world but not of the world," added Tuttle, who described herself as among the minority viewpoint the past several years while serving on the diocesan task force on holiness of relationships. The group has prepared a soon-to-be-published study guide for congregations to tackle tough issues like same-gender marriage, she said.

"We need to be strong Christians and to be Christian examples in our community and we need to uphold Scripture."

For the Rev. Canon Brian Cox IV, rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, a well-known conservative with an international ministry of reconciliation, a Prop. 8 supporter, same-gender marriage is not a civil rights issue.

Rather, Proposition 8 "represents my own understanding of the nature of marriage, which Scripture and tradition define as between a man and a woman," said Cox, founder of reconcilers.net.

While acknowledging the hurt of "those who deeply disagree with me," Cox said he views the issue "through a very different lens ... that of the faith community of Jews, Christians and Muslims have upheld throughout tradition and that point of view is still shared by many people in the life of our state."

Similarly, the Rev. David Baumann, rector of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Placentia, California, a conservative parish, said he also supported Proposition 8. "But I didn't teach about it, or speak to it, it's such a flashpoint for so many people that it makes it difficult to have a really good, positive contributing dialogue and sharing of views," added Baumann.

Still, he added that if same-gender couples marry, "it would change the meaning of what marriage is. It's not negative; it's just two different ways of looking at human unions. One has the potential for creating unions that same sex unions do not have, such as having children. You cannot equate the two, there would need to be separate category."

Bob Long, a Pasadena attorney and former senior warden at All Saints Church, said the Supreme Court had decided as best they could "given the issues before them. The wrong decision was made by those of us who are citizens of state of California who voted in favor of Prop. 8."

Full equality for gays and lesbians is just a matter of time, he added, noting the "fear-mongering campaigns he believed influenced the vote. "As more and more of us in the state come to know and have friends who are same-sex couples and see the kind of loving relationships, committed relationships they have, the more the public will be inclined to say there's no reason to deny them the right to marriage."

The Very Rev. Brian Baker, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento was set to speak at two protest rallies including one on the steps of the state capitol late Tuesday. He called the court's decision "heartbreaking," though expected.

"It was a very solemn and somber experience," he said during a telephone interview after leaving a gathering "of about 400 gay and lesbian couples, individuals and allies" in downtown Sacramento. "We're sad for all the gay and lesbian couples who are feeling like once again their relationships are relegated to second-class status."

He criticized justices for setting a precedent that allows "the civil rights to be taken away by a simple majority at the ballot box. It's shocking that California's constitution can be changed so radically by a simple majority of voters on a balloting issue without the higher scrutiny of the legislature getting involved.

But he is hopeful. "Part of what happened when we had that brief window of time, when 18,000 couples married and the sky didn't fall, and marriage as we knew it, didn't end, it was another witness to show people this is not a threat to traditional marriage.

"Really, the issue isn't if, the only issue is when. And we're going to make it sooner than later. It's tragic we don't have it today but we will have it soon."

For Bill Walker, the decision felt like a "compromised victory. On the one hand, I feel very happy that my marriage was upheld, but on the other, very sad that our friends can't get married."

He and partner Kelly Ziegler will celebrate their one-year anniversary June 17. "I feel like we're on a little oasis, an island of 18,000 couples whose marriages are legal. But I'm very sad for our friends."

Proposition 8 distressed their eight-year-old daughter Elizabeth, said Walker 52, a television writer for such series as Roseanne, Frazier and Will and Grace. "Our children were a major motivating factor in our getting married. We wanted our children to have married parents like all their friends did," recalled Walker, who also has a three-year-old son James.

But when Prop. 8 passed, "she couldn't believe people would vote to not let people like her parents marry."

"This is not the end of it, not by any means," added Walker, who planned to join a protest rally later in West Hollywood. But he was hopeful. "As time goes on, this will be overturned in two years," when another proposition is placed on the ballot. "We won't be alone in this for quite as long as I hope."

"Our wedding day was the happiest day of our lives, next to the birth of our kids. It felt very right; it was something we didn't anticipate we'd see in our lifetimes and we wanted to be married by an Episcopal priest. That was important to us."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Pat McCaughan is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Provinces VII and VIII and the House of Bishops. She is based in Los Angeles.