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Maryland Religious Leaders Join Together to Support Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Maryland religious leaders of various denominations convened in support of providing same-sex couples with the protections of marriage. The meeting, held at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in the Mount Vernon community of Baltimore City, was held on the eve of a hearing in Baltimore City Circuit Court in the ACLU’s lawsuit on the constitutionality of Maryland marriage law, which denies marriage protections to same-sex couples.

Signatories to a public statement in support of marriage protections for same-sex couples included: Rev. Andrew Foster Connors of Brown Memorial Park Ave. Presbyterian Church; Rev. John R. Deckenback, the Conference Minister of the Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ; Rabbi Bradd Boxmann of Har Sinai Congregation; Rev. Victoria R. Sirota of the Church of the Holy Nativity; Deacon Meredith Moise of St. Sebastian United Reform Catholic Church; and more than 40 other religious leaders representing religious groups from across the state including Baptists, Methodists, Conservative and Reform Jews, Lutherans and Unitarians.

The ACLU case is predicated on the fact that Maryland marriage law denies same-sex couples in committed relationships the protections that straight couples are provided through marriage. This discrimination, the ACLU maintains, leaves same-sex couples unable to protect their relationships during difficult times. While constitutional protections guarantee the right of religious organizations to marry who they choose to marry, many religious leaders in the state support the ability of same-sex couples to protect their families through marriage and welcome the opportunity to marry same-sex couples.

More : baltimorechronicle.com

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