Gay bishop supports same-sex unions in U.S.

Posted on April 12, 2007
Filed Under United Kingdom |

Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s sole openly gay bishop, added his voice to New Hampshire’s civil unions debate, saying legalising same-sex unions doesn’t threaten religion or families.

Robinson testified at a state senate hearing on civil unions, which passed the house last week. He said he went to the legislature as a religious leader and a New Hampshire citizen seeking equality for himself and his partner of nearly 20 years.

Church, family, and the state collided Tuesday under the statehouse dome as the senate took a first look at the bill, which if passed would make New Hampshire the fourth state to allow gay and lesbian couples to enter civil unions. Canada and Massachusetts allow same-sex marriage.

The Roman Catholic diocese of Manchester asked the senate judiciary committee to reserve marriage for men and women. “No other form of relationship between persons can be considered equivalent to a natural relationship between a man and a woman out of whose love it is possible for children to be born,” said Diane Murphy Quinlan, chancellor of the diocese. “Marriage is not simply a matter of emotion between two people or a lifestyle choice.”

Robinson’s election in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop sparked international fallout in the worldwide Anglican Communion to which the U.S. Episcopal Church belongs.
Anglican leaders have since asked the U.S. denomination to stop ordaining more gay bishops and temporarily refrain from blessing same-sex unions. He referred to none of that Tuesday.

More than 200 people signed up to speak against civil unions, 94 in favour—the committee adjourned after four hours without hearing everyone.

Esther Poulin, of Bedford, used part of her time to reading the story of Adam and Eve from the book of Genesis. God created Eve as a helpmate to Adam, said Poulin, 50. “For us to rewrite God’s law is an abomination,” she said.

Eric Knutsen, a church worker and waiter from Concord, worried about the human harvest. “When a man has a sexual relationship with a woman, what he is doing is he’s sowing a seed,” he said. “We can call all sorts of things families, but when a man and a man get together and sow their seed among another—have sex, sow a seed—it does not bear any fruit.”

State senator Martha Fuller Clark said civil unions should pass so her sons, gay and straight, could have the same chance at happiness.

His voice breaking, former state senator Gary Francoeur asked lawmakers to be “righteous” and vote down civil unions, even though he has a lesbian daughter. “My heart aches today as I watch the consequences of the sin in their lives,” he said of his children. He said his daughter “knows the law of the land yet she chooses to live a homosexual lifestyle.”

The committee is expected to make its decision on civil unions Thursday. Senate president Sylvia Larsen, a Democrat from Concord, said she’s optimistic it will pass the full senate.

Governor John Lynch remains the wild card. Lynch is against marriage equality but says he’s still making up his mind about civil unions. He supports expanding state employee health benefits to cover same-sex partners. If the bill reaches his desk, Lynch can sign it, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it.

Source: Gay.com 

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