All Saints Church is proud to have been in the forefront of the struggle for marriage equality in the State of California just as we have been in the forefront of LGBT equality in the Episcopal Church. From the first blessing of a same-sex union in 1991 to the formation of the Beyond Inclusion ministry in 1997 to the work of Claiming the Blessing beginning in 2002, All Saints Church has been committed to both equal protection and equal blessing for LGBT children of God.
A Time Line
May 2008
Following the May 15, 2008 Supreme Court decision ending the ban on same-sex marriage on May 22, 2008 the All Saints Vestry passed a resolution stating that that “… All Saints Church, Pasadena will treat all couples presenting themselves for the rite of marriage equally.”
Read the Court decision.
Read the All Saints resolution.
June – November 2008
Between the lifting of the ban on same sex marriage on June 16th and the passage of Proposition 8 on November 4th forty-six same sex couples were married at All Saints Church.
May 2009
On May 26, 2009 the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 8, a decision which not only deprived same-sex couples of the fundamental right to marry, but, in the words of dissenting Justice Carlos Moreno, “places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities.”
June 2009
At its June 2, 2009 meeting the All Saints Vestry unanimously passed a resolution stating that All Saints is committed to making the sacrament of marriage equally available to all couples and that in response to that commitment, the clergy at All Saints Church will not sign civil marriage certificates for any couples until the right to civil marriage is available to all couples.
Read the All Saints resolution.
Video Resources
Marriage Equality: Grace in Action
http://www.transformationaljourneys.org/stewardship/GIAvideopage5.htm
Ed Bacon “We will not stop until we have marriage equality”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0geJUJ6cWU&feature=player_embedded
Other Resource Links
California Faith for Equality: An interfaith coalition of clergy and lay leaders committed to marriage equality
Prop 8 Trial Tracker: An online source for tracking ongoing developments in the marriage equality struggle in California
