Rick Dean
Registered
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0514gaymarriage.html
Matthew Parker (left) and Gerardo Torres are already married in their church but want to make their union legal now.
Same-sex couples plan civil disobedience to seek equal rights
Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic
Matthew Parker (left) and Gerardo Torres are already married in their church but want to make their union legal now.
Challenge to Ariz. marriage laws set
Michae
Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
May. 14, 2004 12:00 AM
As the nation prepares for the first legal same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, four Arizona church ministers and a busload of same-sex c
oup
es will challenge Arizona's marriage laws by attempting to get marriage licenses today.
They want to
break those laws, or at least bend them, just as activists have done in San Francisco, New York state and Portland, Ore. They want to see how the government and communities here and across the country respond, even as one Phoenix gay couple's quest to marry works its way toward the Arizona Supreme Court.
Borrowing a page from the civil rights movement, they will ride a bus from court to court today, expecting to be denied, because state law defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. Additionally, it is a misdemeanor for a minister or government employee to marry any couple without a marriage license issued by the government.
Nonetheless, the ministers w
ill perform same-sex marriages on Saturday and then confront government officials to see if they will enforce that law.
The organizers plan four days of protest, civil disobedience and ce
lebr
atio
n timed to
coincide with the first same-sex marriages to be performed legally in Massachusetts starting Monday.
About 50
gays and lesbians will board a bus this morning and travel to selected Justice Courts across the Valley to apply for marriage licenses. They and others will descend upon the downtown Phoenix customer service center for the clerk of the Maricopa County Superior Court this afternoon to apply again.
On Saturday, the four pastors expect to marry as many as 70 same-sex couples at a Phoenix resort.
On Tuesday, the pastors intend to present affidavits confirming the illegal marriage vows to the clerk of the court.
"We're handing the state the evidence that we broke the law," said Pastor Brad Wishon, the protest's organizer. "We've signed it,
we've had it notarized, there are witnesses that we broke the law. You can convict us."
Wishon admits being inspired by ministers who were arrested in March in New P
altz, N.
Y., for
performing same-se
x marriages.
Making a point
"Our goal is not to get arrested," Wishon said. "Our goal is to point out the inconsistencies and the injustic
e in the law and to truly bring out the point that while there are religious groups opposed to this because of their religious tenets, there are other religious groups who by the tenets of our faith, say this has to change."
Wishon is pastor at Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church, a central Phoenix congregation comprised mainly of gay and lesbian worshipers.
Among his parishioners are Don Standhardt and Tod Keltner, who have petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court to consider their case against the state for denying them a marriage license. On May 25, the justices will discuss the case in confer
ence to decide whether they will agree to hear arguments in the fall.
May 25 is also when the California Supreme Court will hear arguments as to the legality of sam
e-sex marria
ges perform
ed in San Francisco.
<b
r>"Many, many clergy around the world do perform same-sex weddings," Standhardt said. "And the clergy (here) are just stepping up. They're tired of not being able to practice
their First Amendment rights."
Standhardt and Keltner are helping organize the events and will ride the bus today, but because of their court case, they will not be among the couples marrying Saturday.
Mike Rathbone and Alan Meyers are.
'Very important issue'
"We think it's a very important issue, and we're doing it to support the civil disobedience that's going on," he said. "We are committed enough to each other to get married but the only reason we haven't done it is it's not yet legal."
Ginger Brooks
expects to marry her partner of six years, Cindy Stahl.
"We are married in our eyes and we feel in God's eyes," Brooks said. "I just w
ant the same rig
hts. I want the
same benefits as everyone else.&
quot;
A spokeswoman for the court clerk said the gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to fill out applications.
"We'll treat them like any other couple that's applying for a license," Cari Gerchick said. "And if they don't meet the legal requirements, then
they won't get a marriage license. It's instantaneous."
Since it is illegal for same-sex couples to marry in Arizona, they will be denied.
And, according to Gerchick, the only other same-sex couple to have applied before were Standardt and Keltner.
Law enforcement officials do not plan to prosecute the ministers who are going to perform weddings on Saturday.
'Uncharted territory'
"If the police submit a report, we would s
ubmit it," said Kathy Lubay-Johnson, chief assistant Phoenix city prosecutor. "But we're talking uncharted territory here. We would ha
ve to look at it and
see if we have a p
rosecutable case."
Nor does t
he Phoenix Police Department intend to act.
"We don't make arrests on Class 2 misdemeanors," Detective Tony Moralessaid. "I can guarantee you we aren't going to go up there and arrest them because they're getting married."
The weddings will take place at the Calamus Resort in central Phoenix. Organizers are expecting a thousand people or mo
re for the ceremonies and the parties afterward.
"A lot of people are taking it very, very seriously," Keltner said.
"It's their pronouncement of their love. We have five or more couples that have been together 25 years or longer."
And though organizers have warned the participants to keep their eyes open for violence from counterprotesters, they are not e
xpecting trouble.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0514gaymarriage.html
Same-sex couples plan civil disobedience to seek equal rights
Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic
Matthew Parker (left) and Gerardo Torres are already married in their church but want to make their union legal now.
Challenge to Ariz. marriage laws set
Michae
Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
May. 14, 2004 12:00 AM
As the nation prepares for the first legal same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, four Arizona church ministers and a busload of same-sex c
oup
es will challenge Arizona's marriage laws by attempting to get marriage licenses today.
They want to
break those laws, or at least bend them, just as activists have done in San Francisco, New York state and Portland, Ore. They want to see how the government and communities here and across the country respond, even as one Phoenix gay couple's quest to marry works its way toward the Arizona Supreme Court.
Borrowing a page from the civil rights movement, they will ride a bus from court to court today, expecting to be denied, because state law defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. Additionally, it is a misdemeanor for a minister or government employee to marry any couple without a marriage license issued by the government.
Nonetheless, the ministers w
ill perform same-sex marriages on Saturday and then confront government officials to see if they will enforce that law.
The organizers plan four days of protest, civil disobedience and ce
lebr
atio
n timed to
coincide with the first same-sex marriages to be performed legally in Massachusetts starting Monday.
About 50
gays and lesbians will board a bus this morning and travel to selected Justice Courts across the Valley to apply for marriage licenses. They and others will descend upon the downtown Phoenix customer service center for the clerk of the Maricopa County Superior Court this afternoon to apply again.
On Saturday, the four pastors expect to marry as many as 70 same-sex couples at a Phoenix resort.
On Tuesday, the pastors intend to present affidavits confirming the illegal marriage vows to the clerk of the court.
"We're handing the state the evidence that we broke the law," said Pastor Brad Wishon, the protest's organizer. "We've signed it,
we've had it notarized, there are witnesses that we broke the law. You can convict us."
Wishon admits being inspired by ministers who were arrested in March in New P
altz, N.
Y., for
performing same-se
x marriages.
Making a point
"Our goal is not to get arrested," Wishon said. "Our goal is to point out the inconsistencies and the injustic
e in the law and to truly bring out the point that while there are religious groups opposed to this because of their religious tenets, there are other religious groups who by the tenets of our faith, say this has to change."
Wishon is pastor at Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church, a central Phoenix congregation comprised mainly of gay and lesbian worshipers.
Among his parishioners are Don Standhardt and Tod Keltner, who have petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court to consider their case against the state for denying them a marriage license. On May 25, the justices will discuss the case in confer
ence to decide whether they will agree to hear arguments in the fall.
May 25 is also when the California Supreme Court will hear arguments as to the legality of sam
e-sex marria
ges perform
ed in San Francisco.
<b
r>"Many, many clergy around the world do perform same-sex weddings," Standhardt said. "And the clergy (here) are just stepping up. They're tired of not being able to practice
their First Amendment rights."
Standhardt and Keltner are helping organize the events and will ride the bus today, but because of their court case, they will not be among the couples marrying Saturday.
Mike Rathbone and Alan Meyers are.
'Very important issue'
"We think it's a very important issue, and we're doing it to support the civil disobedience that's going on," he said. "We are committed enough to each other to get married but the only reason we haven't done it is it's not yet legal."
Ginger Brooks
expects to marry her partner of six years, Cindy Stahl.
"We are married in our eyes and we feel in God's eyes," Brooks said. "I just w
ant the same rig
hts. I want the
same benefits as everyone else.&
quot;
A spokeswoman for the court clerk said the gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to fill out applications.
"We'll treat them like any other couple that's applying for a license," Cari Gerchick said. "And if they don't meet the legal requirements, then
they won't get a marriage license. It's instantaneous."
Since it is illegal for same-sex couples to marry in Arizona, they will be denied.
And, according to Gerchick, the only other same-sex couple to have applied before were Standardt and Keltner.
Law enforcement officials do not plan to prosecute the ministers who are going to perform weddings on Saturday.
'Uncharted territory'
"If the police submit a report, we would s
ubmit it," said Kathy Lubay-Johnson, chief assistant Phoenix city prosecutor. "But we're talking uncharted territory here. We would ha
ve to look at it and
see if we have a p
rosecutable case."
Nor does t
he Phoenix Police Department intend to act.
"We don't make arrests on Class 2 misdemeanors," Detective Tony Moralessaid. "I can guarantee you we aren't going to go up there and arrest them because they're getting married."
The weddings will take place at the Calamus Resort in central Phoenix. Organizers are expecting a thousand people or mo
re for the ceremonies and the parties afterward.
"A lot of people are taking it very, very seriously," Keltner said.
"It's their pronouncement of their love. We have five or more couples that have been together 25 years or longer."
And though organizers have warned the participants to keep their eyes open for violence from counterprotesters, they are not e
xpecting trouble.