Why we passed A095 and A167

At the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church, we spent hours and hours playing with voting machines and practicing our parliamentary procedure. We got very little done for the first week, and then we nit-picked resolutions in order to free them from the constraints of Windsor language. We didn't have time to consider many worthwhile pieces of legislation. But when all was said and done, the General Convention made sure that a few resolutions were passed -- A095 and A167, sacred cows for a number of members of the Human Sexuality subcommittee of Social and Urban Affairs.

Here's why.

'Buried on Page 195 of Jonathan Rauch's new book, Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America, is this insight into why the government's stamp of approval isn't actually the one that matters most in the battle over gay marriage: "The full social benefits of gay marriage will come when religions as well as governments customarily bless it: when women marry women in big church ceremonies as parents weep and ministers, solemnly smiling, intone the vows," observes Rauch, a writer in residence at the Brookings Institution.'

'In other words, forget courthouses and city halls; the fight for legitimacy for gay couples will be won under a roof topped by a cross and a steeple. About three-quarters of Americans choose to be married by a member of the clergy. When it comes to weddings, if not regular worship, we remain a country of steadfast churchgoers.'

'It's a point grasped by both proponents and opponents of same-sex unions: Marriage is a threshold, a life-changing event because of its distinct combination of legal, social, and religious significance. For many of us, the importance of the institution is rooted more deeply in joint blessings than in joint tax returns.'

From an April 2004 article in Slate magazine.

Here is the final text of A095 and A167.