This case is changing the conversation in North Carolina, the South and our nation by highlighting the reality that many faith traditions fully bless the marriages of same-sex couples and fully affirm the dignity and wholeness of LGBT people. Below are a few of the recent stories in North Carolina and national media:
Fayetteville Observer
July 1, 2014
Columnist: Marriage equality can’t wait
We recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act and the federal government recognizing marriages between same-sex couples. This was a historic moment in the push for LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender – individuals and families to finally become equal citizens under the law. But the reality remains that North Carolina continues to deny loving, committed same-sex couples the freedom to marry, and the state continues to treat LGBT people as second-class citizens in the most basic spheres of life – employment, health care, family rights.
QNotes
June 10, 2014
N.C. Attorney General: Deny immediate relief in marriage case
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and several other state defendants filed an official response to the latest lawsuit over marriage equality in the state on Tuesday, arguing the court should deny gay couples’ motion for immediate relief.
UU World Magazine
May 12, 2014
Banning gay marriage infringes religious freedom, UUs argue
Unitarian Universalists join historic United Church of Christ lawsuit against North Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban. In what may become a groundbreaking case in the fight for marriage equality, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ—along with two Unitarian Universalist ministers, other progressive clergy, and same-sex couples seeking to be married—has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage violates their constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom.
MSNBC
May 3, 2014
Pastors fight to perform same-sex marriages (video)
Pastor of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, Rev. Nancy Petty, talks about the North Carolina gay marriage ban.
MSNBC
May 1, 2014
A unique argument for marriage equality (video)
A national Christian denomination is suing North Carolina over their same-sex marriage ban, saying it violates their religious freedom to marry same-sex couples. Rev. Joe Hoffman, Diane Ansley, and Cathy McGaughey join Ari Melber.
Huffington Post
April 30, 2014
North Carolina’s new gay marriage lawsuit could turn ‘everything on its head’
An unusual lawsuit in North Carolina is shifting the conversation about religious freedom — and could be driving a wedge between some major opponents of same-sex marriage. Clergy from the United Church of Christ, a liberal denomination that voted to support gay weddings in its churches in 2005, filed suit in a North Carolina district court Monday, becoming the latest in a nationwide series of cases against a state’s same-sex marriage ban.
Asheville Citizen-Times
April 28, 2014
Local clergy file federal same-sex marriage challenge
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Charlotte, challenges the constitutionality of marriage laws in North Carolina that ban same-sex marriages, and make it illegal for clergy to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. Asheville reverends Joe Hoffman and Mark Ward are both plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which includes a dozen clergy members and six couples. Advocates say the case is the first one in the country to bring First Amendment religious freedom claims, among the 66 marriage equality cases pending in courts nationally.
New York Times
April 28, 2014
North Carolina’s Gay-Marriage Ban Is Challenged by Church
The lawsuit, filed in a Federal District Court by the United Church of Christ, is the first such case brought by a national religious denomination challenging a state’s marriage laws. The denomination, which claims nearly one million members nationwide, has supported same-sex marriage since 2005. “We didn’t bring this lawsuit to make others conform to our beliefs, but to vindicate the right of all faiths to freely exercise their religious practices,” said Donald C. Clark Jr., general counsel of the United Church of Christ.
NBC
April 28, 2014
North Carolina Clergy Bring Challenge to State Gay Marriage Ban
A federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s constitutional amendment ban on same-sex marriage was filed on Monday, but this time it was brought by a group of clergy. The men and women of the cloth say that the state’s “Amendment 1,” which was approved by voters in 2012, infringes upon their religious freedom to perform marriages for their gay and lesbian congregants.
Buzzfeed
April 28, 2014
United Church Of Christ Files Lawsuit Challenging N.C. Same-Sex Marriage Ban
The lawyers filing the case, General Synod of the United Church of Christ v. Cooper, say it is the only lawsuit challenging a state ban on marriage for same-sex couples that includes claims based on First Amendment religious freedom protections. In other words, same-sex couples in the case seek the right to marry in the state, while religious leaders and clergy seek the ability to perform wedding ceremonies for them.
Charlotte Observer
April 28, 2014
United Church of Christ sues over NC ban on same-sex marriage
A group of Charlotte-area ministers helped launch the country’s first faith-based challenge to same-sex marriage bans, claiming in a lawsuit filed Monday that North Carolina’s laws block them from practicing their religion. The local religious leaders, who include a rabbi, are joined by colleagues from Asheville and Raleigh along with a national denomination, the United Church of Christ. All support the rights of same-sex couples to marry.