A gay church?

[al300]

Hey just wanted to know what you guys think? if gay men and women were a part of a church that they called thyeir own. Could the government the say still that you couldnot get married even if this gay church said it was okay? just a thought let me know what you think...

[princealbertofb]

Er.... difficult to say since this is still hypothetical. In some countries they have decided to separate church from state and so if the state says it's ok for same sex couples to marry (or have the nearest equivalent) then the church wouldn't have its say. Does the fact that a church choose (or not) to sanctify marriage make it legal in the lay world? I'm not sure that it would. Here in France, in any case, you'd have to have the civil ceremony officialised by the mayor for it to be considered as a legal and legitimate union.
How does the United States' laws judge on that? Is it something federal or State controlled?

[sox-and-the-city]

I think the idea of founding a Church (not to be confused with a church) purely on the concept of gayness and ensuring gay marriage is a teensy little bit spurious personally....

[fjp999]

I think there are all kinds of religions with all kinds of churches and some do ceremonies for same sex marriage but as PA points out those marriages are not recognized by the government, unless that USA state has recognized such marriages first, so if it was just a ceremony of love love love then fine but would not come with the many other benefits of marriage.

[fredv3b]

The question is not whether or not the government allows this hypothetical church to marry gay couples but whether it recognises those marriages as valid legal marriages. The short answer is, of course, the government shouldn't be forced to recognise the marriages of any organisation that calls itself a church, otherwise some crackpot group would force it to recognise child marriages, marriages to the dead, etc. The idea that the government should recognise gay marriage because a church asks it to, clearly contrary to the separation of church and State. In the end I think this hypothetical church is irrelevant, the government should recognise gay marriage regardless of whether this church does or does not exist.