Same-sex marriage is finally legal in all of America. On Friday, the US supreme court had done its part. Now it’s up the American people to make it a reality.
Even as some opponents of same-sex marriage have pointed to religious freedom as a justification to refuse issuing marriage licenses or marrying same-sex couples, others have more than willingly taken up the cause. In fact, a number of regular Americans have gotten themselves ordained just so that they can make history and help same-sex couples tie the knot.
“It was a good week in America,” said attorney Damian Billak, pointing to the decision to remove the Confederate flag from the state house in South Carolina and the US supreme court decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
Inspired, Billak decided to do his part by getting ordained and offering to marry same-sex couples.
“I thought that was a symbolic gesture on my part – who as a lawyer has always believed in equality – to be able to do that and to actually help perform ceremonies for anyone who needs it,” Billak told the Guardian. “If nothing else, it’s a show of support for folks who want to do that.”
Billak, who lives in Boardman, Ohio, said that the response has been mostly positive.
“There were a few conservative Christian folks that have put up some of their vitriol on Facebook pages – mine, my wife’s and the local news station’s that ran the story – but that’s to be expected,” he said. “That’s their opinion and they are free to have that opinion.”
Religious freedom has been cited by many opponents of same-sex marriage as the reason why clerks, judges and ministers should be able to decline issuing licenses or performing same-sex marriages. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton even issued a statement Sunday that blasted the US supreme court ruling as manufacturing a “right that simply does not exist”. Paxton defended the right of workers to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
“[N]umerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs, in many cases on a pro-bono basis, and I will do everything I can from this office to be a public voice for those standing in defense of their rights,” the statement read.
While some are making a choice not to perform same-sex marriages, others are stepping up and are getting ordained to do exactly that.
“When our decidedly less than gay-friendly North Carolina general assembly decided to let magistrates refuse to marry same-sex couples, if said magistrate states a religious objection, I decided that this ‘straight but not narrow’ grandmother needed to step up and walk her talk,” Susan Martin, 64, told the Guardian.
“After a bit of googling, I decided that American Marriage Ministries and I were a good fit. Within minutes, Susan Martin officially became Reverend Sue.”
Among those ordained to marry same-sex couples is Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the case that made same-sex marriage legal across the nation. According to 700 WLW, Obergefell got ordained online in preparation for the ruling so that he could perform marriages for others who, thanks to him, can now seal the deal.
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Bex Schwartz, creative director at Alkemy X, has been an ordained minister for seven years now. She first got ordained to marry her best friend, but has since officiated many gay weddings. It all began when same-sex marriage became legal in New York.
“On the night that New York passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, my friend Josh and I were like: ‘Oh my God, let’s marry everybody! As many people as we can for free and celebrate.’ We managed to end up throwing this enormous event called Pop Up chapel in Central Park with the help of the Knot,” Schwartz told the Guardian.
Schwartz was able to get together a team of 16 officiants of different backgrounds to make sure every couple had their dream wedding. Two dozen couples ended up getting married that Saturday, 30 July 2011. Schwartz herself married three of the couples.
One of the couples was from Texas, where at the time same-sex marriage was not legal.
“One of the first same-sex weddings I did was between two men named John and Jay. They’ve been together for 50 years and never possibly imagined that they could be a couple in public and that they would actually be able to get married just like everyone else in their families,” said Schwartz. “The fact that they had waited 50 years for this moment – I think I was weeping while I was proclaiming them married by the state of New York and the Universal Life church.”
For Schwartz, all weddings are full of joy. Yet the handful of same-sex weddings she officiated when they first became legal in New York were especially exciting.
“The first batch of same-sex weddings I did when I was able to say ‘By the power vested in me by the state of New York’, it was a very exciting moment because I’ve been wanting to [do that] for quite some time. And I’ve been saying that but I couldn’t say that to gay couples and all of a sudden it was like ‘Fuck yeah, New York!’” she said.
“Now, it’s more like ‘Fuck yeah, America! By the power vested in me by the United States of America I can pronounce you married, husband and husband, or wife and wife’.”
When the decision was announced on Friday, Schwartz was beside herself with joy.
“I squealed with glee and ran around my office like a chicken without a head making happy cat noises,” she said.
Later that day, she offered her services for free online. (She didn’t end up marrying anyone in a spur-of-the-moment ceremony.)
If you are SO HAPPY about the SCOTUS decision and you get your marriage license today, I will gay-marry you for free this weekend.
Schwartz is not shy about her extracurricular activity.
“I am an ordained minister and I focus on same-sex weddings,” said Schwartz.
“That’s who I am. What do you do on a weekend? Do you golf? Do you play softball? I [officiate] weddings because it makes me really happy and I love being able to do that for people.”
(Guardian)
Even as some opponents of same-sex marriage have pointed to religious freedom as a justification to refuse issuing marriage licenses or marrying same-sex couples, others have more than willingly taken up the cause. In fact, a number of regular Americans have gotten themselves ordained just so that they can make history and help same-sex couples tie the knot.
“It was a good week in America,” said attorney Damian Billak, pointing to the decision to remove the Confederate flag from the state house in South Carolina and the US supreme court decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
Inspired, Billak decided to do his part by getting ordained and offering to marry same-sex couples.
“I thought that was a symbolic gesture on my part – who as a lawyer has always believed in equality – to be able to do that and to actually help perform ceremonies for anyone who needs it,” Billak told the Guardian. “If nothing else, it’s a show of support for folks who want to do that.”
Billak, who lives in Boardman, Ohio, said that the response has been mostly positive.
“There were a few conservative Christian folks that have put up some of their vitriol on Facebook pages – mine, my wife’s and the local news station’s that ran the story – but that’s to be expected,” he said. “That’s their opinion and they are free to have that opinion.”
Religious freedom has been cited by many opponents of same-sex marriage as the reason why clerks, judges and ministers should be able to decline issuing licenses or performing same-sex marriages. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton even issued a statement Sunday that blasted the US supreme court ruling as manufacturing a “right that simply does not exist”. Paxton defended the right of workers to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
“[N]umerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs, in many cases on a pro-bono basis, and I will do everything I can from this office to be a public voice for those standing in defense of their rights,” the statement read.
While some are making a choice not to perform same-sex marriages, others are stepping up and are getting ordained to do exactly that.
“When our decidedly less than gay-friendly North Carolina general assembly decided to let magistrates refuse to marry same-sex couples, if said magistrate states a religious objection, I decided that this ‘straight but not narrow’ grandmother needed to step up and walk her talk,” Susan Martin, 64, told the Guardian.
“After a bit of googling, I decided that American Marriage Ministries and I were a good fit. Within minutes, Susan Martin officially became Reverend Sue.”
Among those ordained to marry same-sex couples is Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the case that made same-sex marriage legal across the nation. According to 700 WLW, Obergefell got ordained online in preparation for the ruling so that he could perform marriages for others who, thanks to him, can now seal the deal.
s
Bex Schwartz, creative director at Alkemy X, has been an ordained minister for seven years now. She first got ordained to marry her best friend, but has since officiated many gay weddings. It all began when same-sex marriage became legal in New York.
“On the night that New York passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, my friend Josh and I were like: ‘Oh my God, let’s marry everybody! As many people as we can for free and celebrate.’ We managed to end up throwing this enormous event called Pop Up chapel in Central Park with the help of the Knot,” Schwartz told the Guardian.
Schwartz was able to get together a team of 16 officiants of different backgrounds to make sure every couple had their dream wedding. Two dozen couples ended up getting married that Saturday, 30 July 2011. Schwartz herself married three of the couples.
One of the couples was from Texas, where at the time same-sex marriage was not legal.
“One of the first same-sex weddings I did was between two men named John and Jay. They’ve been together for 50 years and never possibly imagined that they could be a couple in public and that they would actually be able to get married just like everyone else in their families,” said Schwartz. “The fact that they had waited 50 years for this moment – I think I was weeping while I was proclaiming them married by the state of New York and the Universal Life church.”
For Schwartz, all weddings are full of joy. Yet the handful of same-sex weddings she officiated when they first became legal in New York were especially exciting.
“The first batch of same-sex weddings I did when I was able to say ‘By the power vested in me by the state of New York’, it was a very exciting moment because I’ve been wanting to [do that] for quite some time. And I’ve been saying that but I couldn’t say that to gay couples and all of a sudden it was like ‘Fuck yeah, New York!’” she said.
“Now, it’s more like ‘Fuck yeah, America! By the power vested in me by the United States of America I can pronounce you married, husband and husband, or wife and wife’.”
When the decision was announced on Friday, Schwartz was beside herself with joy.
“I squealed with glee and ran around my office like a chicken without a head making happy cat noises,” she said.
Later that day, she offered her services for free online. (She didn’t end up marrying anyone in a spur-of-the-moment ceremony.)
If you are SO HAPPY about the SCOTUS decision and you get your marriage license today, I will gay-marry you for free this weekend.
Schwartz is not shy about her extracurricular activity.
“I am an ordained minister and I focus on same-sex weddings,” said Schwartz.
“That’s who I am. What do you do on a weekend? Do you golf? Do you play softball? I [officiate] weddings because it makes me really happy and I love being able to do that for people.”
(Guardian)
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