DOMA and the Supreme Court: Its Time for the Church to Get Its Story Straight — [D]mergent

On Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26 and 27, the Supreme Court is going to hear three hours of arguments on two cases concerning the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act DOMA. Both have to do with the legality of denying marriage to same gendered couples. That the way this issue is argued, and ultimately decided, bears watching should go without saying. I along with a number of other people will be paying close attention.

Since legal analysis isn’t my area of expertise, I will leave that to the professional legal pundits. What I’m interested in taking a look at is the extent to which our attitudes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have changed so profoundly that it is now possible to think that full equality, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is within reach. So, without resorting overmuch to triumphalism, here’s what I think:

No matter what happens in the Supreme Court this week, the war against the exclusion of LGBT folks has been won; we are merely fighting rearguard actions.

Continue reading at DOMA and the Supreme Court: Its Time for the Church to Get Its Story Straight — [D]mergent.

Derek Penwell

Author, Speaker, Pastor, Activist. Derek Penwell is senior pastor of Douglass Boulevard Christian Church, and a lecturer at the University of Louisville in Religious Studies and Comparative Humanities. His newest book, Outlandish, focuses on understanding the political nature of Jesus’ life as a model for forming communities of resistance capable of challenging oppression in the pursuit of peace and justice.

He is an activist and advocate on local, state, and national levels on issues of racial justice, LGBTQ fairness, interfaith engagement, and immigrant and refugee rights.

https://derekpenwell.net
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