Marry Me!

It's Pride weekend at last! Or what we gay Christians sometimes refer to as Pridetide.

The theme for All God's Children MCC this Pride is 'Marry Me. Equal Love. Equal Rights.' We have a 'Chapel of Love' set up as part of the Pride Festival. Church members are collecting thousands of signatures for a petition to Governor Pawlenty opposing Minnesota's proposed anti-marriage, anti-gay state constitutional amendment. And tomorrow morning is the official Pride Worship service, where Rev. Paul Eknes-Tucker will be preaching on the topic of marriage.

Equal marriage rights are important for me an my partner, Aaron. There are something like 1,200 rights and benefits provided to married couples in this state and federally, but none of them are available to committed gay couples like ourselves. This struggle is not about special rights for gays and lesbians, it's about our human and democratic rights to access to the same legal protections in marriage that our married straight friends take for granted every day.

Aaron and I plan to marry in October. For us, right now, it's a personal and spiritual commitment to one another and to the community before God, our friends and family. Which is what marriage ought to be. But without civil marriage to back up that commitment, we'll remain on less solid ground ground when it comes to protecting our relationship and everything we create in our lives together.

Defend marriage: Equal marriage rights for all!