UULMCA

Marriage Equality

Religious Leaders File Amicus Brief
Letter from Napa County Clergy
Right to Marry: Media Gallery
Alice Huffman - NAACP: Acceptance and Respect

Marriage Equality Page Features:
California Courts
Federal Legislation
History of Marriage
Views and Ideas
More Organizations
Worship Resources
Banners to Download
Marriage Equality Photo Album

The Song

Listen to "Meet in the Middle," Holly Near's inspirational
new song in support of equality.

Palo Alto

Davis

Stockton

Claremont

Rev. Clyde Grubbs from Throop Church
Gathering before the rally in Sacramento

Grandparental UUs from Davis

Photos of Civil Disobedience in San Francisco

Bay Area News Photos

San Diego North County Times

Modesto Bee

Religious Leaders File Amicus Brief - Prop 8 Invalid
Proposition 8 poses a severe threat to the guarantee of equal protection
January 14th, 2009

Today, the California Council of Churches and other religious leaders and faith organizations representing millions of members filed an amicus curiae brief with the California Supreme Court urging the Court to invalidate Proposition 8. The brief argues that Proposition 8 poses a severe threat to the guarantee of equal protection for all and was not enacted through the constitutionally required process for such a dramatic change to the California Constitution.

Press Release
- California Council of Churches, CA Faith for Equality, UULM-CA

Amicus Brief (2.3 MB PDF)

Amicus Brief Joinder Letter (2MB PDF)

Our Constitution is a Social Contract
By Eric Alan Isaacson, Co-author of Interfaith Amicus Brief,
Attorney and UU from First UU Church, San Diego
March 4, 2009

"There are strong civil liberties arguments for ending the exclusion of gay and lesbian couples from the legal institution of marriage. But marriage equality is about more than equal access to the legal protections of marriage. It's about our affirming intimate relationships between people. It's about respect for the new and richly diverse definitions of what it means to be a family. "

Read the Full Letter

Freedom to Marry: UU Gallery

Visit our Scrapbook of Videos, Photos, and News Articles

UU's across California make a joyful noise on this historic day, June 17th, 2008, as the wave of same sex couples begin receiving their legal marriage licenses. For many, this sweet success is the result of decades of activism and fortitude.

The UULM-CA commemorates this historic civil rights victory with a scrapbook of couples and supportive family, friends, neighbors, congregants, and clergy.

It's About Acceptance and Respect
Marriage Equality Endorsement by California NAACP President

In an eloquent new LetCaliforniaRing ad, Alice Huffman, President of the California National Associate for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) draws the connection between the racial discrimination, marriage equality, and the fight for justice for all people.

Download the Full Page

Current Programs

Calendar of Events

Health Care Reform

Marriage Equality

Water Justice

Funding the Common Good

Listening Campaign

UULM and the Supreme Court on Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
By Eric Alan Isaacson, Co-author of Interfaith Amicus Brief,
Attorney and UU from First UU Church, San Diego

Thanks to an interfaith effort led by the UULM and California Faith for Equality, religious voices calling for marriage equality are forcefully represented in the pending Marriage Cases, in which the California Supreme Court heard arguments on March 4.

Read complete article

2008 Supreme Court Affirms Freedom to Marry

" Prayers of thanksgiving and praise will be offered in houses of worship across California in gratitude for today’s watershed state Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex couples to get legally married.”

Press Release

CA Supreme Court May 15, 2008 Opinion on Marriage Cases (172 pgs)

Amicus Brief supporting same-sex marriage

Articles and Links

Gay Marriage Ruling - Photo Gallery
Los Angeles Times - May 15, 2008

Historic Public Hearing, March 4th, 2008

Compelling Oral Arguments were heard on March 4th. The hearing has been archived, both video and audio- only, and you can watch it (or just listen) on the Supreme Court website.

2007 Religious Coalition Files Marriage Equality Amicus Brief

Press Release, September 26, 2007

"Amici believe that same-sex couples should be afforded the same fundamental rights as different-sex couples to participate in the State-sanctioned institution of marriage."

UULM and the Supreme Court on Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
By Eric Alan Isaacson, Co-author of Interfaith Amicus Brief, Attorney and UU First UU Church, San Diego

2007 Interfaith Amicus Brief for Marriage Equality

The California Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether it is a violation of the California Constitution to deny same sex couples access to civil marriage.

In the original 2005 case of Woo v Lockyer , marriage equality was upheld. That decision was appealed. In 2006 it was heard in the appellate court. An extensive interfaith amicus brief was submitted, but marriage equality was struck down by a 2 to 1 decision.

List of Signers on the 2006 Interfaith Amici Brief

2005 Woo v Lockyer

March 14, 2005 California Court rules that denying access to marriage to same gender couples violates the CA state constitution.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer held that “no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this State to opposite-sex partners,” and that “the parade of horrible social ills envisioned by the opponents of same-sex marriage is not a necessary result from recognizing that there is a fundamental right to choose who one wants to marry.”

Powerful oral argument by the lead attorney that contains examples of the impact felt by couples denied access to marriage.

Full decision by Judge Kramer, a Republican who was appointed by former Governor Pete Wilson

2004 Lockyer v. San Francisco

Lockyer v. San Francisco (424K PDF) decision declaring SF Mayor Newsom had overstepped his authority and voiding the marriages licenses issued in San Francisco.

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Federal Marriage Amendment

Flyer 1,138 Federal Rights and hundreds of states rights denied to same sex couples. Hand-out from Equality CA, listing some of the key rights and responsibilities that come with marriage that are not found with domestic partnerships. (727KB pdf)

The Road to Civil Marriage Equality in the U.S.
With special attention to California. Compiled by Greg McConigle, M. Div., April 2005 for the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, CA.

Sermon: The Bible and Same-Gender Marriage
by Mary A. Tolbert

Views and Ideas

Pulpit Editorial: United we Stand or Divided We Fall
by Stephanie Stolte
From the UU Fellowship of Stanislaus County in Modesto

This powerful statement was given as a pulpit editorial on October 16,
2005. It is a call to action to stop the ballot initiatives currently in
circulation that will amend the California state constitution to take away
existing domestic partner rights and responsibilities from same gender
couples, and prohibit civil marriage.

A Declaration of Religious Support for Equal Civil Marriage Rights (40KPDF)

History of Marriage Letter (224K PDF) to Senator Walsh of Massachusetts
by Stephen Schloesser, S. J., Assistant History Professor, Boston College

"Freedom to Marry": a Gay Marriage Documentary

"When newly-elected San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom allowed same-sex couples to marry in February 2004, he created a political firestorm that has yet to be extinguished. Luckily for gay couples everywhere, Laurie York and Carmen Goodyear were on-scene with their video camera, and their friends, to document this historic moment in gay and lesbian history." —Review from 2004 Southwest Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

Note: one of the couples featured in this video is Don Williams and David Jones of the First Unitarian Universalist Society in San Francisco

UUA Resources: news coverage, resolutions, etc.

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California Faith for Equality
www.cafaithforequality.org

Marriage Equality USA-California
www.marriageequality.org

Equality California
www.eqca.org

Courage Campaign
http://www.couragecampaign.org/

Yes on Equality
http://www.yesonequality.com/

America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
http://www.aclu.org

Unitarian Universalist Washington Office for Advocacy
www.uua.org/uuawo/new/

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