Should LGBT-Friendly Churches Refuse to Sign Marriage Licenses?

A few years ago, Natalie Portman made a comment about how she wouldn't want to get married so long as marriage rights were denied to gay and lesbian couples.  (That statement, along with her role in V for Vendetta, made me automatically love her forever.)  Turns out, there are churches that are practicing the same philosphy.

This week, the Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Cleveland voted overwhelmingly to stop signing all marriage licenses in Ohio, until marriage rights are afforded to gay and lesbian couples in the state.  And they're billing this move as a protest to advance civil rights.

As reported in the Plain Dealer, the church's board of directors and the congregation agreed that signing marriage licenses for straight couples and not gay couples is unfair.  As such, Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) becomes one of six UCC congregations around the country to take such an action - refusing to condone any marriage until everyone has a right to get married, regardless of their sexual orientation.  Pastors at the church say that the passage of Proposition 8 in California led them to take such an action.

According to Rev. John Tamilio III, the head pastor at Pilgrim, the church will still perform holy unions for all couples.  They just won't sign state marriage licenses.

So how about this?  Could this be the beginning of a campaign to get LGBT-friendly churches to stop signing marriage licenses as a means of protesting marriage inequality?  Should churches feel called to do this as a matter of fostering social justice and supporting civil rights?

Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer, who works for the official United Church of Christ, sees some potential here, with two churches in Minnesota, one church in Oregon, and one church in North Carolina already adopting such measures.  And we are starting to see the emergence of religious folks coming out for marriage equality, with organizations of religious leaders in California, Florida, and Maine working to pass same-sex marriage rights.

So we hope this is a trend that continues.  After all, as Marriage Equality USA noted in their assessment of the No on 8 campaign, one of the most important steps that same-sex marriage advocates can take is building bridges and coalitions with religious leaders.  They've identified clergy leaders as "the most effective messengers for marriage equality."  Here's to Pilgrim Congregational Church joining this group of messengers.