In the news ...

From the L.A. Independent: ( I love it when a reporter actually reports what you said!)
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At the liberal All-Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, clergy said they will defy the ban on gay marriage and continue to perform wedding ceremonies, which they have been doing for 18 years.“The only difference will be that we will not actually be signing marriage certificates,’’ the Rev. Ed Bacon told the Pasadena Star on Friday.

The newspaper reported that 57 percent of Pasadena voters supported Proposition 8.

“How dare a religious body say that these people are not holy and that their relationships are not holy,’’ Bacon said Sunday. “We know that they are sacred.

“The only way [opponents of gay marriage] could win was to deceive the voters,’’ he said during his Sunday sermon. “Our task is to continue to stand in solidarity with one another with the incredible coalition of communities that has been created through this campaign.’’

“One of the most important things we’re celebrating here today is freedom of religion,’’ said the Rev. Susan Russell. “Because of the separation of church and state, we consider all of our couples married in the sight of God in a way that is completely separate from civil marriage. I think that was the big challenge, the message that didn’t get through as well as it should have during the Proposition 8 campaign."

“Just as God’s blessing is available to us all, so should the blessing of the church be available to couples who find each other, fall in love, want to commit themselves to each other until death do they part,’’ she added. “I think we need to treat those couples equally. We’ve been doing that here for 16 years. And for a brief, shining moment, we had 140 days where we got to treat them equally. We’re going to continue to work very hard to see to it that we get back to that place.’’

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