Scare Tactics Will Not Work in Maryland: Vote FOR Question Six

The Maryland Catholic Conference has issued a misleading final appeal, urging people to vote against Question Six, which extends marriage equality to gay and lesbian Marylanders.

Here are the reasons the MCC advances against Marriage Equality - followed by their refutation:

MCC: “It is not necessary to redefine marriage in order to provide rights and benefits to other couples.”

Response:  The Marriage Equality law does not "redefine" marriage. When the public schools were opened to Black citizens, the schools were not "redefined" but were simply opened to all citizens. When public accommodations were opened to all, regardless of race, restaurants were not "redefined" but were merely ordered to serve everyone equally. When the Supreme Court told Virginia (and Maryland) that by-racial marriages were legal, marriage was not "redefined" but was merely made legal for marriage partners of all races.

MCC:“Many of the rights and benefits sought by those who want to redefine marriage are already available to domestic partners in Maryland.”

Response: The MCC forgets to say that in the very recent past, the MCC has opposed civil unions. It is disingenuous in 2012 for the MCC to asset indirectly that some second tier legal status is now, suddenly good enough for gay Marylanders.

MCC: “. . . is not discrimination to believe that marriage is to be between a man and a woman.”

Response: Yes, it is discrimination to bar same-sex couples from going to the courthouse to get a marriage license. 

In the US, under existing laws, the government must have a compelling interest to justify forbidding some citizens from having all the rights enjoyed by other citizens. 

In the case of the right to obtain a marriage license, there is no good reason for the government to forbid a license to same-sex couples and permit it for heterosexual others.

MCC: “We all know and love family members, friends and colleagues who are gay, but reserving marriage for one man and one woman recognizes the uniqueness of that relationship above all other relationships.”

Response: the Church is free to ‘reserve’ its wedding regulations as the Church sees fit. But these ‘reservations’ cannot be made to apply to non-Catholics. 

It is disingenuous to claim to "love" someone while at the same time, campaigning against their civil rights.

MCC: Marriage between one man and one woman has been recognized by both government and religion throughout time and across cultures because it is the only relationship capable of bringing children into the world and providing them with the love of a mother and a father.

Response: Throughout ‘time,’ i.e., many different attitudes and practices have been “recognized” as the marriage norm. Many of these practices are forbidden under modern US law and are no longer followed. 

In the past and in some parts of today's world, multiple wives have been permitted for men. In some cultures, girls and women were (and are) considered chattel, to be bartered or sold into marriage, against their will. 

In colonial Maryland, white women were prosecuted and enslaved, together with their children, if they selected an African slave as a mate. 

Well into US history, wives were not permitted to inherit property. 

Going along with the times, the Catholic Church in Maryland made no objection to these unfair civil laws, which treated women as second class citizens. Like racial segregation, these unfair marriage rules were followed by the Church.

By ending racial segregation, the civil government took the lead and extened civil rights to those whom the Church treated as undeserving of full civic participation. 

Once again, today, the official leaders of the Catholic Church, sadly, are on the wrong side of a civil rights issue.

MCC: Don't be fooled into thinking we can redefine marriage and protect religious freedom. We've seen it too many times already - if marriage is redefined, churches, religiously affiliated institutions, private businesses and individuals will be exposed to lawsuits and harassment just for expressing their religious beliefs about marriage.

Response: These statements are scare tactics. These arguments are no more than a veiled justification for discrimination. 

In Maryland as in the US as a whole, no one can do business with the public and practice discrimination against certain members of the public.

Under existing law, no business or charity can offer services (i.e., adoption) to a heterosexual couple and deny those same services to a same-sex couple.

MCC: “And don't take the Question 6 ballot language at face value. What the new law redefining marriage pretends to offer as religious protections, it then takes away in language that has not been included in what you will read at the polls. According to the actual legislation, religious organizations that accept state or federal funds are excluded from certain religious liberty protections if they partner with the government to provide services to the community.”

Response: More scary language, which is intended to justify backdoor discrimination. 

In Maryland, no agency or institution (i.e., Catholic Charities) can take tax money and then turn around and discriminate against taxpayers. 

Claiming the so-called right to practice unlawful discrimination is a very poor argument against the right of citizens to be able to go to the courthouse and obtain a civil marriage license.

Conclusion: using faulty logic and scare tactics, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Maryland - unlike a majority of the laity - is campaigning against the civil rights of gay and lesbian Marylanders. 

The Church is advocating against the civil rights of many Maryland Catholics, including couples and their children, who number in the thousands.

It would be poor public policy to create a two-tier approach to marriage. This is bad for couples, for families, for kids and bad for society.

Vote FOR Question Six in Maryland.

For the complete statement of the MCC, refuted above, click here.

"No one should face discrimination under the law" - Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun Has Endorsed 

Marriage Equality - 

Vote FOR Question Six in Maryland

Maryland's marriage equality law protects religious institutions while affirming the principle that no one should face discrimination under the law

The case for Question 6, which would affirm Maryland's law authorizing same-sex marriage, is simple. It upholds the principle that the law should treat everyone the same. Marriage is both a religious and a civil institution. Churches, synagogues and mosques have always set their own rules about which marriages they recognize, and this law does not change that fact. What it does is to ensure that no Marylander faces discrimination under the law when it comes to one of the state's fundamental institutions.

Opponents of the measure have sought to confuse the issue by warning of unintended consequences of marriage equality. They claim that those who, for religious reasons, oppose same-sex unions will be persecuted. That children will be taught about same-sex marriage in school against their parents' will. That it will somehow rob children of the best possible upbringing.

Those are no more than scare tactics.

[. . . ]

Civil unions and domestic partnerships in some states have sought to afford gay families the same packages of rights and benefits as married couples — a difficult and usually incomplete task, given the number of laws that reference marriage in one way or another. But that approach creates two kinds of marriage — one for straight people and one for gay people — and that inevitably relegates same-sex couples to second-class citizenship.

Maryland's marriage equality law protects the rights of religious institutions to set their own doctrine and practices, but it also affirms the principle that the state's civil laws should not foster discrimination. Everyone deserves to be treated equally under the law, and for that reason, we urge voters to support Question 6.

Source: For Question 6 Our view: Maryland's marriage equality law protects religious institutions while affirming the principle that no one should face discrimination under the law

"Government deals with marriage as a civil status . . . "

Opponents of the civil rights of gay Marylanders often argue from Scripture that marriage is about one man and one woman. So says the Knights of Columbus through a spokesman: "We are one with the church on the subject of preserving traditional man-and-woman marriage."

Marriage is man-and-woman marriage. And that's it.

But that is not it. Not everyone in Maryland reads Scripture. 

Not everyone in Maryland reads Scripture in just the same way.

In the United States we do not call in the prosecutor to enforce religious beliefs.

Judge Dennis Jacobs, a conservative federal circuit judge, yesterday (Oct 18 2012) made this clear. 

Civil rights in the United States are not regulated by any one religion. 

Judge Jacobs issued a decision in the three judge decision in the Windsor case stated:

". . . law (federal or state) is not concerned with holy matrimony. Government deals with marriage as a civil status . . . A state may enforce and dissolve a couple’s marriage, but it cannot sanctify or bless it. For that, the pair must go next door [to the Church]."

In Maryland, this year, civil marriage equality is on the ballot. 

The question we are asked to decide on Nov. 6 is whether all the citizens of Maryland enjoy the same civil right to marry the one you love.

In our society, there can be only one fair answer to this question: 

Everyone who believes in equal protection under law should vote FOR Question Six on November 6.

Source: 

Judge Jacobs strikes down DOMA section 3 | Maryland for All Families

DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that gay Americans are a class of people who deserve the same kinds of constitutional protections as many other victims of discrimination. - NY Times

"Founded to Alleviate the Pain Caused by Bias, the Knights of Columbus Now Promotes Discrimination"

The following comments are from an article written by a former vice-president of the Knights of Columbus insurance division. The article appeared in the PORTLAND PRESS HERALD, July 30, 2012

Maine Voices: Catholic group's anti-gay marriage effort contradicts its history

Founded to alleviate the pain caused by bias, the Knights of Columbus now promotes discrimination.

By ROBERT O'KEEFE
North Waterboro, Maine

"From 2008 to 2010, the Knights of Columbus has donated more than $3 million to weaken the stability and security of gay and lesbian families by funding campaigns to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry. I urge the Knights of Columbus to remember its history and its pro-family principles and to stop funding campaigns that write discrimination into the laws of Maine and other states."

"I am the proud father of seven wonderful sons, the youngest of whom is gay. I have enjoyed nothing more than to watch them all grow into the men, the husbands, the fathers and even the Knights they have become."

"I was saddened when I realized how much my youngest struggled to reconcile his Catholic heritage with being born gay. I struggled as well, but it was through love that I accepted and embraced him. This struggle made me a better man and father, and I will be forever grateful for that."

"I am extremely proud of the happy young man he has become and look forward to the day when I can celebrate his marriage just as I have the marriages of his older brothers."

"For 11 years, I worked for the Knights of Columbus, and before my retirement I was a vice president of the organization's insurance division."

[. . .]

I was and still am deeply proud to see the fruits of our hard work change this world for the better. This is why I was so disheartened to learn that millions of dollars raised through our insurance programs for charity were being used to fund discriminatory political campaigns.

"In 2009, the Knights of Columbus was the third-largest donor in the drive to repeal marriage equality here in Maine. The Knights of Columbus has donated more than $1 million to the National Organization for Marriage, which is now in its third year of investigation by Maine's ethics commission for allegedly violating the state's campaign-finance disclosure laws."

[. . .]

"It is certainly within the scope of the mission of the Knights of Columbus to uphold the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding marriage as an example of sacrificial love. It is also within the rights and mission of the Knights of Columbus to present in a positive light a traditional view of marriage as we have known it."

"However, we should all guard against supporting political initiatives that institutionalize discrimination in any form." 

[. . .] 

"With thoughts of my son and his struggle, I will be voting for the stability and security of all Maine families by voting for marriage equality on Nov. 6."

"States were wrong to allow discrimination against Catholic families in the 19th century, and they are wrong to discriminate against same-sex families now."

"I strongly urge the Knights of Columbus to continue its blessed tradition of charity and not divert any more of its charitable funds toward the fight against marriage equality here in Maine or anywhere else in the United States."

SOURCES:

Maine Voices: Catholic group's anti-gay marriage effort contradicts its history | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram


BONDINGS 2.0: Knights’ Work Against Marriage Equality Tarnishes Their Catholic Tradition