Vermont gets gay marriage the right way

Moreover, what about the churches (such as some UCC affiliates, not to mention the MCC, and probably the Society of Friends) who will gladly marry two men, or two women? Aren't their members' religious freedoms being violated by the State not upholding the sanctity of such marriages?

(btw, apologies to all SoF members if I have misstated your beliefs.)

DHatzenbuhler
I accept this fact. The people you cite are interested in being married by a minister, priest... because they would like to be married by them and be accepted by their religious community.

The people in my church who've been married are already accepted by their religious community- they are family, all brothers and sisters in Christ. They are loved. The want their own minister to marry them in the way that many people have know who they'd like to be the officiant. They've already gone through pre-marriage counseling.

If marriage means a religious ceremony in a church, then they're married. If they're same-sex then what they don't have is a certificate from the state, unless it happened during the summer.

Those who think that the religious community is only concerned about the legality of ministers being forced to marry gay couples are short sighted to the reality of what has already happened. Two women in New Jersey filed a discrimination lawsuit which resulted in a Methodist church being fined and losing their tax exempt status. A California doctor refused to provide in vitro fertilization treatment to a woman in a lesbian relationship. The doctors referred her to their partners, who were willing to provide the treatment. But no, that doctor was sued and lost in the California Supreme Court. In Mississippi, a mental health counselor was sued for refusing to provide therapy to a woman looking to improve her lesbian relationship. The counselor’s employers fired her—a move that was backed up by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In Massachusetts, Catholic Charities was told they had to accept homosexual couples in their adoption service, or get out of the adoption business. They chose correctly—get out of the business. In Albuquerque, a same-sex couple asked a Christian wedding photographer to film their commitment ceremony—and sued the photographer when she declined. In New York, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University refused to allow same-sex couples to live in married student housing, in keeping with the school’s orthodox Jewish teachings. In Mississippi, a mental health counselor was sued for refusing to provide therapy to a woman looking to improve her lesbian relationship. The counselor’s employers fired her—a move that was backed up by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Convinced? Individuals need religious protection too, because the gay community is happy not to respect the religious beliefs of persons who take the Bible literally and prefer to honor God rather than politically correct persons.