President of the House of Deputies has joined with many others signing a legal brief in support of marriage equality. USA Today reports:
With the U.S. Supreme Court set to decide the legality of same-sex marriage bans in cases from four Midwestern states, dozens of legal briefs representing hundreds of thousands of parties calling for the bans to be overturned flowed into the court ahead of a filing deadline today.
While many of the briefs came from groups who have long fought to have the bans reversed, support also came from more unexpected sources: More than 300 Republican, conservative and center-right activists and government officials signed a brief in support of overturning the bans. Another brief was signed by hundreds of U.S. companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Apple, Microsoft and more….
“No religion’s belief or practice should be allowed to restrict the rights of people to marry and receive equal protection under the law,” said the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, which submitted a brief arguing that this case is about civil — not religious — definitions of marriage.
Christian Science Monitor notes the number of briefs filed including President Obama’s administration:
A wide spectrum of political, religious, and business groups – including the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots – filed legal briefs at the US Supreme Court on Friday urging the justices to rule in favor of same-sex marriage in the upcoming blockbuster case.
The friend of the court briefs were filed on behalf of more than 300 Republicans, 379 American companies, 226 mayors, and nearly 2,000 clergy members who say the high court should rule that gay men and lesbians have a right to marry anywhere in the United States…
Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, told reporters that the issue in the case was civil marriage, not religious marriage. She said she agreed to sign onto the brief because of her religious beliefs, not in spite of them. “It is long past time to end any kind of discrimination against God’s children in this country,” she said.
posted by Ann Fontaine