One year ago, this very week, I faced one of the most difficult challenges of my life. A routine colonoscopy revealed the completely unexpected news that I had cancer. It was that sudden... that stark a diagnosis. The long and complex journey that followed, culminated, thank God - with complete healing and recovery. In the course of those challenging weeks, I learned anew many profound spiritual lessons and truths regarding some of life's ultimate meaning, But I was also confronted with some more practical realities as well... among them, the deeply personal implications of a political and moral cause that I had been deeply committed to for many years - the freedom of same-sex couples to marry. I had always known the hard facts of the issue - that the legal prohibitions against gay marriage were not only socially discriminatory, but also deprived gay and lesbian couples of many basic rights, protections and benefits that heterosexual marriages incurred as a matter of course. I knew, intellectually, that there were more than 1400 of these legal rights and benefits... but all of a sudden, many of them were being raised as critical questions of immediate personal relevance. If I and my partner Steven had the choice of marriage, with our relationship publicly sanctioned and protected, I would have been able to spend the week before my surgery focusing my energy and inner resources on my physical and spiritual well-being, in the face of the tremendous challenges that lay ahead. Instead, I had to run all over Boston, to a series of lawyers, financial planners, and insurance agents - as well as every doctor and hospital department connected with my case. I had to draft and sign health care proxies and powers of attorney, and quickly revise my will and insurance policies. I needed to secure ironclad instructions indicating that Steven was my next of kin, and was to be granted full access to me at every point in my treatment. We found ourselves having to be concerned with legal and technical procedures that most other American couples would never have to even think about - facing enormous pressure from questions that should have been the very last thing on our minds at that point....

As we stand, this very week, at a critical crossroads in the struggle for gay rights in America, I share these very personal reflections with you, because ultimately, this is what the Freedom to Marry issue is all about - the basic rights and protections of building and sharing a life together with another person, and forming a family. The issues of hospital visitation, health-care decisions and inheritance, are among the major legal rights that the Freedom to Marry Movement is fighting for.... but there are many more. For hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian families, the fragile rights to adoption, or the care and custody of one's own children- and access to the countless social and health services afforded to all other families - are also at stake.

I also want to frame this discussion with this personal perspective, because so many people, including vast numbers in the GLBT community, are oblivious to what we are really fighting for at this critical moment in history. This has nothing to do with gay people wanting to assimilate into mainstream American society, by aping the trappings of straight marriage or the traditions of conventional wedding ceremonies. We're not talking about the “right” to have a three-tiered cake with two plastic brides on top - or the “ freedom” to throw a catered bash with two tuxedoed grooms having their first dance as husband and husband... We are talking about the fundamental sanctity and integrity of the relationships of hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian couples and families - and their access to the basic civil rights and legal protections that millions of married American citizens take for granted.

It must constantly be emphasized that the Freedom to Marry Movement is primarily focused on Civil Marriage, and the many hundreds of privileges and benefits it affords. From Joint Tax Returns to tax-free Pension Benefits – these are very real issues that directly affect the wellbeing and quality of life of every citizen of this country. But on the deepest level, this issue is bound up with the recognition of the very humanity of gay and lesbian people... our right to live - and love – in peace. The freedom to commit oneself to another person, to form a family, and to have that relationship honored and protected by society, is a fundamental human right of every American citizen ! Throughout history, the right to marriage has been the lynchpin of society's recognition of the basic liberties of individuals. It's denial has also been one of the primary means of the disenfranchisement of particular segments of the community, and the oppression of minorities. Throughout the Middle Ages, and well into the 19th century - and again in the Nazi Era - many European nations limited and restricted the right of Jews to marry and form families. In this country, we know that African American slaves were forbidden to legally marry - and, quite incredibly - interracial marriages were in fact illegal in many states as recently as the early 1960's. The struggle for gay rights, that began in the early 60's with the fight to decriminalize homosexuality, and has continued as an ongoing battle against discrimination on many fronts, now reaches its final frontier. The gay community itself, and all people of conscience, have come to realize that the legal recognition and support of same-sex relationships is nothing less than the ultimate affirmation of basic human rights for millions of American citizens !

Now while the primary issue here is one of basic Civil Rights, for us in this congregation, and for many other people of faith throughout this country, the Freedom to Marry is also a critical question of Religious Liberty. The Unitarian Universalist Association, Reform Judaism, and the United Church of Christ, are among the major American denominations that support the religious as well as the civil right of marriage for gay couples, and officially sanction weddings and commitment ceremonies. And yet, in a blatant violation of every basic concept of the separation of Church and State, the theology and policies of certain religious groups are being given complete precedence over others. The imposition of opposing religious doctrines on many American churches and synagogues, denying their clergy the right to legal recognition of their wedding or commitment ceremonies for same -sex couples, is a complete negation of the Constitutional principle of strict government neutrality in religious matters. It is an abomination that the political power of Evangelical Protestants, and the Roman Catholic Church - mired in its own moral morass and hypocrisy - have become the chief forces in the violation of the religious freedom of other major faith communities – including our own !

Because the right-wing, both religious and political, have co-opted the conservative churches as their henchmen, and the gay marriage debate - which concerns Civil rather than Sacramental Marriage - is being constantly framed as a religious issue, it is critical that the heretofore ignored - and sometimes silent - voice of the progressive religious community be heard as well. I am proud to be a Founding Steering Committee Member of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry. Organized six years ago - right here at Arlington Street Church, the RCFM has become one of the largest interfaith groups in the state - with a current membership of over 450 clergy and religious leaders representing a broad diversity of progressive churches and synagogues that support the right of Civil Marriage for same-sex couples. We ground this commitment both on our understanding of the broad spirit of freedom and justice as taught by our respective faith traditions, as well as the basic American values of civil rights for all citizens in a free society. As pastors and rabbis, ministering to families of every description, we abhor any attempts that would discriminate against any family or child - or would deny them the benefits and protections guaranteed by this Commonwealth to all its citizens.

We recognize that much - perhaps most - of the opposition to these rights, also comes from "religious" people. The loud - often strident - voices of conservative and fundamentalist churches have long been given primacy by the media and by our elected officials. The RCFM believes that the voice of the progressive religious community must be heard with equal force and vigor. Over the past six years, we have worked- tirelessly - to spread our message in the media, which often simplistically portrays all religion as opposed to same-sex marriage. We have testified at countless legislative hearings, lobbied at the State House, and have opposed the various political maneuverings of the anti-gay forces in their efforts to enact statutes such as the infamous "Defense of Marriage Act.”

Friends, we find ourselves, at this very moment, at the critical juncture of crisis in what is, without question, the Civil Rights Crusade of our time. This past week was declared "Marriage Protection Week" by a coalition of some of America's most notorious right- wing political and religious organizations, whose goal is to restrict gay rights and ultimately, to add an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which would officially and permanently prohibit gay marriage. The shocking reality, lest we dismiss this as the typical grandstanding of extremist bigots, is that the President of the United States himself endorsed this effort last week with an Official Proclamation of support ! George W. Bush stated:

"Marriage is a sacred institution, and its protection is essential to the continued strength of our society. Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and my Administration is working to support the institution of marriage by helping couples build successful marriages and be good parents."

Now the ominous danger of this statement goes far beyond its characteristic convoluted grammar and literary gracelessness. Many of us have long been dismayed by the arrogance, the venality, and the belligerent presumptions of this Administration. But if we have opposed the War in Iraq, and so many of George Bush's other social and economic policies, how much more must we stand in protest against this alignment with bigotry… this assault upon the rights of millions of America's gay and lesbian citizens and their families !

Moreover, this battle will be reaching major milestone resolutions on a number of critical fronts, in the coming weeks. This Thursday, October 23, the Massachusetts legislature will hold hearings on the bill proposed by Freedom to Marry supporters, that would finally include same -sex couples in the Commonwealth's Civil Marriage Statute - an effort that is calling forth all of the force and fury of the opposition. They, in turn, have been successful in calling for the Massachusetts Legislature to convene a Constitutional Convention on November 12, to introduce the Amendment that would permanently enshrine a ban on gay marriage in the State Constitution itself.... And virtually any day now, the State Judicial Court will announce its decision on the suit, brought by 7 courageous Gay and Lesbian couples, to declare the ban on the legal recognition of their marriages, as unconstitutional.

We are indeed at one of the most pivotal moments in the struggle for gay and civil rights in American history…no less critical than the crusade led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. forty years ago! If ever there was a need for every voice of conscience to be raised... if ever there was a time for liberal, progressive, religious people - who are so often complacent and passive - to mobilize as passionately and energetically as thousands of right-wing Evangelical and Catholic churches are doing on this very Sunday morning, it is here - and now !

If you have not been involved, we need your voices, and action. Members of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry have distributed materials this morning, and will be available at our Social Action Table downstairs following our Worship, to provide farther information as to how you can make a difference. We need you to contact the White House and your State legislators - and raise your voices as liberal people of faith - to counteract the enormous financial resources of the Evangelical Protestant churches and the political clout of the Archdiocese of Boston - all of whom have been relentless in their battle against the Freedom to Marry. We need you to make every effort to attend the Rally for Equality, which will be held at the State House, this Wednesday, October 22, at noon - the day before the Hearings on the Marriage Bill. We know how both elected lawmakers and the media pay attention, and are significantly influenced by the numbers and the popular opinion reflected in such demonstrations. You need to educate yourselves on the issues - to get your family and friends involved... and to make sure that the battle is not lost …because the progressive religious community sat back and allowed the fundamentalists to triumph!

And friends...we need to do this, because we are here - in this historic Sanctuary - which for generations has been the sacred battleground for every movement for social justice and civil rights ... from the Abolition of Slavery to Women's Suffrage... from Opposition to the War in Viet Nam to the Civil Rights and Gay Rights Movements of the 60's and 70's. And now, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts comes under attack, we here at Arlington Street Church must recall that this Congregation was, after all, the host of the original Convention that ratified that very document in our Federal Street sanctuary in 1788. We have a proprietary mandate to ensure that the sacred legacy of freedom and democracy, embodied in that historic declaration, will not be desecrated now!

This is the time for each and every one of us - gay or straight, married, partnered or single - to stand up and become part of this crusade... to once again declare that " all people are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights... that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And once again, as did generations who stood in this sacred place before us, we too, must once again – courageously and forthrightly – heed that immortal call, first mandated in the Bible, and later claimed as the rallying cry at the birth of this Nation, to "proclaim liberty throughout the land…unto ALL the inhabitants thereof!"

Amen