Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 23:02:53 -0500
From: Interfaith Working Group <iwg@iwgonline.org>
Subject: IWG LA Times Marriage Letter

March 2, 2000

Los Angeles Times
Times Mirror Square
Los Angeles, CA 90053

Dear Editors:

We have a very simple principle in this country called
equal protection under the law.  It’s such an
important principle that’s it’s included in various
forms in the United States Constitution and most state
constitutions.  No law is supposed to violate that
principle, but current civil marriage law does violate
that principle by discriminating on the basis of
gender. A legal status is available to some pairs of
otherwise unrelated, consenting adults, but not to
others purely on the basis of their collective
genders.  David Coolidge's use of social science
statistics in his February 28 anti-marriage opinion
piece has no more bearing on the constitutionality of
discrimination than the religious opinions he is
claiming to ignore, nor is there any particular legal
difference between discrimination on the basis of
collective skin color and discrimination on the basis
of collective gender, no matter how hard he may try to
pretend otherwise.   

Sincerely,
Barbara Lamond Purdom		Christopher Purdom
Interfaith Working Group Coordinators

The above letter was sent on IWG letterhead listing 19 congregations and
religious organizations and 63 clergy from 16 religious traditions. For
sexual orientation, gender identity, reproductive freedom, church/state
separation, diversity, and radical religious right links go to
http://www.iwgonline.org/links/


--

Interfaith Working Group
PO Box 11706
Philadelphia, PA 19101
http://www.iwgonline.org/
iwg@iwgonline.org
voice: 215-235-3050
fax:   215-232-0829