Prop 8

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court announced its decision, upholding Proposition 8, which amended the Constitution to limit the term "marriage" to describe only a union between a man and a woman. However, in doing so, the Court kept intact the estimated 18,000 marriages that occurred before Proposition 8 passed. The overall result was disappointing, though expected.

Many people might not know this, but the Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) -- like many other religious groups -- filed a brief as amicus curiae on behalf of the petitioners who were challenging Proposition 8's validity. In the brief, the Pacific Yearly Meeting expressed that it was "gravely concerned about Proposition 8 because it would impede them and their member meetings from conducting ceremonies of marriage without discrimination."

What is the Pacific Yearly Meeting's history on marriage equality? It was at the 1996 Pacific Yearly Meeting in Chico, California that the Pacific Yearly Meeting reached unity on the issue of marriage equality. The official minute, adopted as part of our Faith and Practice, explains that "a commitment to equality requires that same-gender couples have the same rights and privileges [as opposite-gender couples]." Further, "we believe that the State should permit gay and lesbian couples to marry and share fully and equally in the rights and responsibilities of marriage."

By no means do all Quakers agree on this issue. While it seems to me that most so-called "liberal", "unprogrammed" Friends support marriage equality, there are certainly Quakers -- indeed, probably a majority worldwide -- who vehemently oppose same-sex marriage.