Denomination of Metropolitan Community Churches Decries Florida Marriage Vote
Amendment 2 vote “angers community and gives new urgency to the push for equality,” says The Rev. Nancy L. Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches
Sarasota, Florida — The head of the world’s largest predominantly gay Christian denomination decried Tuesday’s passage of Florida’s Amendment 2. “Florida law already prohibited the legal recognition of same-sex marriages,” said the Rev. Nancy L. Wilson, moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). “This latest effort is unnecessary overkill. It shows a lack of trust in the government established by our nation’s Founders, who wisely provided for am independent judiciary that can intervene to right the wrongs of inequality and injustice.”
“Opponents of equality sought to use fear and division to convince Floridians that they needed to be ‘doubly protected’ from a non-existent threat,” Wilson added. “Equality under the law, which we have yet to achieve and which is now farther from our grasp with the passage of Amendment 2, demotes no person and devalues no relationship. On the contrary, the equality we have sought and will continue to seek through the legal recognition of all marriages elevates all of our lives and all of our relationships to the status I believe God intended and which is mandated by a Biblically-based faith, such as my own.”
“The passage of Amendment 2 in Florida must serve to reignite our passion and drive for justice and the pursuit of legal recognition of our relationships, not only in Florida,” said the Rev. Jim Merritt, Marriage Equality Coordinator for MCC’s Global Justice Ministry, “but also in every place where lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people have yet to achieve full equality.”
“Metropolitan Community Churches began the struggle for marriage equality 40 years ago when our Founder, the Rev. Troy D. Perry, performed the first public same-sex wedding in this country,” added The Rev. Wilson, “and we will see it through to ultimate victory. We are people of faith and conviction; we believe the words of the spiritual we often sing: God did not bring us this far to leave us.”
“Tonight I want to thank all the people and organizations who worked together for justice, and to encourage all of us — from Equality Florida and Florida Red and Blue to the ACLU and the NAACP, from the Florida League of Women Voters to Fairness for All Families, and from the congregations of Metropolitan Community Churches to the individual rabbis and people of faith — to continue to work together until bigotry, division, and fear finally fail; and equality, unity, and mutual support prevail.”