Last year, my husband and I took a cruise of the Adriatic. Our traveling companions were a recently married gay couple. They had been together for 50 years by the time same-sex marriage was legalized in New York State. Once that happened, they decided to make their union "official."
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As with most cruise holidays, there was a broad menu of entertainment each evening. My husband and I aren't much for late nights or parties. But on one particular evening there was a festive dance party taking place on the pool deck and the four of us decided to join in the fun. Our companions had never danced together in public, so I gamely danced with both of them -- in effect, serving as their "beard." After we'd all been dancing for a while, I gradually stepped back and our friends danced with each other. It was a signal moment for me and, I think, for them. After 50 years of loving each other, taking care of each other and sharing a life, they were finally together on a public dance floor.
As the Supreme Court considers the issue of same-sex marriage, I'm reminded of that cruise and what's at stake on a theological and human level.
Shortly before that cruise, I had lunch with a colleague of mine -- a gay minister. I met him through Tanenbaum's Workplace program, where we frequently address conflicts that arise involving religion and sexual orientation. So, it's not surprising that he and I got into a lively discussion about how a religious person reconciles his homosexuality with his faith.
One can deal with this issue strictly as a matter of human rights, which is a core value of all the Abrahamic religions. Or, as a matter of respect for diversity, which is the approach taken by Tanenbaum. But I want to examine the subject differently here. I want to address the issue on scriptural grounds -- and I do so as an individual, not as a representative of my organization.
While religious belief is so often the target of prejudice, the issue of sexual orientation is a case in which religious belief is the source of the conviction. When the Bible is used to justify repression, opprobrium and killing, I believe we have a moral obligation to examine the texts that inspire condemnation and question whether they really say what we think they say. That means looking at them in their historical and cultural context.