Catholics Grieve California Court Decision to Allow Prop. 8

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 26, 2009
Media Contact:

Nicole Sotelo,

Call To Action,

O: 773.404.0004 x285

Francis DeBernardo, 

New Ways Ministry,O:301.277.5674;

C: 240.432.2489

Marianne Duddy-Burke, 

DignityUSA, C: 617-669-7810

Catholics Grieve California Court Decision
to Allow Prop. 8  Photo

Leaders of DignityUSA, New Ways Ministry and 

Call To Action-

-three groups that support gay rights in the Catholic Church--spoke out against the California's Supreme Court decision to reject marriage as a constitutional right for every citizen of California by allowing Proposition 8 to stand.

Nicole Sotelo, Communications Director of Call To Action, said, "We are grieved by the California's Supreme Court decision to allow equality to be taken from families throughout California.  Now we know that basic principles of freedom and equality can be voted away." 

Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA's Executive Director, said, "It is tragic for everyone in California that discriminatory language that has been allowed to stand in the state's constitution. We call for the elimination of language that limits civil marriage to opposite-sex couples. DignityUSA pledges to continue to work to educate people about the importance of marriage equality, and will continue to offer spiritual and emotional support to gays and lesbians and our families in the face of this temporary loss. We urge a peaceful response, and a renewed commitment to justice in the face of this decision."  

Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry, added, "This ruling was not just about marriage, this ruling was about the human family and human rights. Nobody should be excluded from basic rights or have those rights taken away.  Our faith tells us that of all human virtues, the 'greatest of these is love.'  As people of faith, we are called to support love. Today, the courts took away the freedom to marry from same-sex couples. Today, love has lost."

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Call To Action (CTA) is a Catholic movement working for equality and justice in the Church and society. An independent national organization of over 25,000 people and 53 local chapters, CTA believes that the Spirit of God is at work in the whole church, not just its appointed leaders. 

DignityUSA is the nation's foremost organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics, as well as their families, friends, and supporters. Founded in 1969, the group has members and Chapters throughout the United States. 

New Ways Ministry is a 32-year-old Roman Catholic bridge-building ministry of justice, education, and reconciliation for lesbian/gay Catholics and the wider church community.

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Today’s ruling is profoundly disappointing. As California State Supreme Court, Justice Moreno noted in his eloquent dissent: "I realize, of course, that the right of gays and lesbians to marry in this state has only lately been recognized.  But that belated recognition does not make the protection of those rights less important.  Rather, that the right has only recently been acknowledged reflects an age-old prejudice that makes the safeguarding of that right by the judiciary all the more critical …

Proposition 8 represents an unprecedented instance of a majority of voters altering the meaning of the equal protection clause by modifying the California Constitution to require deprivation of a fundamental right on the basis of a suspect classification.  The majority’s holding is not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution". Read Complelte Posting