Integrity Gives Thanks for Supreme Court Decision
Integrity, Inc.,
June 26, 2003
GLBT Episcopalians and their Families and Friends in a Ministry of
Fellowship and Advocacy
Contacts:
The Rev. Michael Hopkins, President, 301-474-4495, president@integrityusa.org
The Rev. Susan Russell, Communications Director, 714-356-5718, revsusanrussell@earthlink.net
Integrity joins with many who are giving thanks for the Supreme Court
decision today striking down the Texas Sodomy Law, as well as reversing its
previous Hardwick opinion. Integrity joined in the amicus brief filed by
religious organizations supporting the appeal by Mssrs. Lawrence and Garner,
as did the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal
Church.
We would point out that no major US Christian denomination supported Texas
in this appeal. The days of Christian-supported legal discrimination against
gay and lesbian people in the United States seem to be waning, and for this we
give thanks to God. We also give thanks that no longer can opponents of the
public celebration of same-sex unions in our Church use the argument that such
unions are “illegal” in many states. The Supreme Court today put an end to
that reality.
The case also underscores, for Episcopalians, the importance of the actions
of General Convention, for it was the General Convention’s longstanding
opposition to legal discrimination against lesbian and gay persons (dating
from 1976) that enabled Presiding Bishop Griswold to sign the amicus on behalf
of the Church.
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