North Carolina Bigots Must Stop Trampling On Citizens' Religious Freedom

Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ

Perhaps you saw the article by Nick AConfessore and Jeremy Peters in this morning's NY Times, Gay Rights Push Shifts Its Focus South And West. "The country’s leading gay rights groups and donors," they assert, "after a decade focused on legalizing same-sex marriage, are embarking on a major drive to win more basic civil rights and workplace protections in Southern and Western states where the rapid progress of the movement has largely eluded millions of gay men and lesbians. The effort will shift tens of millions of dollars in the next few years to what advocates described as the final frontier for gay rights: states like Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas and Texas, where Republicans dominate elected office and traditional cultural views on homosexuality still prevail." When they wrote it, they were not yet aware of the biggest push for marriage equality in the South, ever. And it kicked off hours after their article went to press.

In what I believe to be a first-of-its-kind anywhere in America, North Carolina clergymen of all denominations, are going to the Federal Courts to stop the state from violating their and their congregants' first Amendment rights. This morning was D-Day for a startling campaign to just stop the bigotry against LGBT couples and their religious faith and the faith of the religious communities they are part of. According to our friends at the Campaign for Southern Equality, an Asheville-based group that promotes LGBT rights in the South, a court case was filed in the Western District of North Carolina "on behalf of the United Church of Christ (UCC) as a national denomination, clergy from across faith traditions and same-sex couples. The case challenges the constitutionality of marriage laws in North Carolina-- including Amendment One-- that ban marriage between same-sex couples and make it illegal for clergy to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples within their congregations. Clergy plaintiffs seek the religious freedom to perform these ceremonies and same-sex couples seek the freedom to marry. The plaintiffs are represented by the law firms of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen and Arnold & Porter LLP.

This morning there was a press conference announcing the case, General Synod of the United Church of Christ vs. Cooper, at Holy Covenant United Church of Christ in Charlotte. Attorneys from the legal team and plaintiffs provided statements and answered questions about their involvement with the litigation. Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, general minister and president of the UCC was one of the plaintiffs participating, as were clergy from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church and First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville.

This case opens a new front in marriage equality litigation: it is the only case to bring 1st Amendment religious freedom claims among the 66 marriage equality cases pending in courts nationally. “In addition to bringing 14th Amendment claims under equal protection and due process, this lawsuit introduces a 1st Amendment claim that the marriage ban in North Carolina violates the right to the free exercise of religious beliefs by denominations, clergy, and congregants who believe that same sex marriages are theologically valid and want to perform marriage ceremonies,” says Jake Sussman a partner at Tin Fulton Walker & Owen and lead counsel in General Synod of the United Church of Christ vs. Cooper.

“The core protection of the First Amendment is that government may not regulate religious beliefs or take sides in religious controversies,” says Jonathan Martel, a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP. “Marriage performed by clergy is a spiritual exercise and expression of faith essential to the values and continuity of the religion that government may regulate only where it has a compelling interest.”

Growing numbers of faith traditions, including those represented among the plaintiffs, bless the marriages of same-sex couples. “As senior minister, I am often asked to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples in my congregation. My denomination-- the United Church of Christ-- authorizes me to perform these ceremonies. But Amendment One denies my religious freedom by prohibiting me from exercising this right,” says Rev. Joe Hoffman, Senior Minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville and a plaintiff in the case.

The UCC is a mainline Protestant denomination with nearly 1 million members nationally. The first UCC church in North Carolina was founded in 1748 and there are now more than 150 UCC congregations across the state. President and general minister of the UCC Rev. Geoffrey A. Black says, “The United Church of Christ has a rich history of boldly joining faith and action, and we filed this landmark lawsuit against the State of North Carolina to protect the religious freedom of our ministers-- one of the essential freedoms of all Americans."

…Last summer the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Windsor that the federal government must recognize marriages of same-sex couples. General Synod of the United Church of Christ vs. Cooper joins the ranks of two cases filed by the ACLU in North Carolina’s Middle District that ask federal courts to act quickly to overturn Amendment One. In recent months, federal courts in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas, Kentucky have found bans on state marriage to be unconstitutional.

Public opinion in North Carolina is no less dynamic than the national legal climate. Recent polling shows that 62 percent of voters under the age of 30 in North Carolina support the freedom to marry. In addition, just 34 percent of all North Carolina voters now believe there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship.

This short video will give you a bit of background on the Campaign for Southern Equality and their tireless and courageous work for marriage equality in the South: