Marriage Equality in Connecticut

The Connecticut Supreme Court decided yesterday in favor of marriage equality! Here’s the story from the New York Times:

A sharply divided Connecticut Supreme Court struck down the state’s civil union law on Friday and ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Connecticut thus joins Massachusetts and California as the only states to have legalized gay marriages.

Marriage equality has been a championed by many Unitarian Universalists and Unitarian Universalist congregations. We have been an important religious voice for marriage equality in Massachusetts, California, and around the country. In Connecticut, Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Josh Pawelek leads the group Connecticut Clergy for Marriage Equality. Pawelek said yesterday:

…we have believed not in a God of hatred and exclusion and punishment, but a God of love. We have believed in a God whose love and care embraces every human being, a God who welcomes every human being.

Connecticut Clergy for Marriage Equality has also produced a “Religious Declaration on Marriage Equality,” which clergy from many different religious groups have signed. An excerpt:

As religious leaders we affirm and promote commitment and fidelity in the relationship of marriage. We value the holy covenant of marriage because it creates stable, committed relationships; provides a means to share economic resources; and nurtures the individual, the couple, and children. Good marriages benefit the community and express the religious values of long-term commitment and faithfulness. Civil Union cannot fully embody these values; only marriage can. There is no difference in marriages between a man and a woman, two men, or two women. As our traditions affirm, where there is love, God is in our midst.