After much study and by a nearly unanimous vote, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council has issued a resolution supporting civil marriage for same-sex couples — with an important caveat.
While the statement is unequivocal in its support of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to enjoy all of the same rights heterosexuals do, it is conditional on the fact that “the laws providing for such rights respect the separation of church and state and do not require clergy of any faith or denomination to perform or recognize the religious status of same-sex marriage.”
With that qualification, even Orthodox members of the JCRC could feel comfortable with it.
“This is one of the biggest civil rights issues of our day,” said Jesse Smith, who chaired the JCRC’s task force. “This not only affects members of our Jewish community, but it’s a big civil rights issue.”
Nevertheless, he said, even in a city as liberal as San Francisco, there are diverse points of view.
“It is also a visceral issue for many people,” he said. “For some people it takes some education as well as sensitivity.”
Smith, who is the chief assistant city attorney of San Francisco, called this issue “dear to my heart,” in that he was in the midst of the flurry of same-sex weddings taking place in City Hall in 2004.
The JCRC began to consider making such a statement when State Assemblyman Mark Leno — who is also active in both the Jewish and LGBT communities — tried passing legislation in the Assembly to support same-sex civil marriages. Between his first and second attempts, he made a presentation to the JCRC on the issue.
Around that same time, those beginning to explore the issue learned that the JCRC in Boston had issued a similar statement in 2004, after Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriages.
The Jewish Community Council of Madison, Wis., also has endorsed same-sex marriages, and a number of Jewish organizations have opposed constitutional amendments against same-sex unions. Several other JCRCs have made statements supporting equal rights for same-sex couples, while stopping short of endorsing marriage.
Leno’s legislation passed the third time it came up for a vote, but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was when the JCRC decided it should study the issue and come up with a position.
The task force was formed with Smith as chair, and using the Boston statement as a reference, they embarked on a discussion of their own principles.
“We had the opportunity as an organization, to really examine this issue from all sides,” said Michael Futterman, president of the JCRC.
Not only did they consider various religious viewpoints, but the legal and public policy implications as well.
“We are a consensus-driven organization and if we have the opportunity to learn from and help educate our various regions and to arrive at what is a true consensus, it makes whatever policy statement that much stronger,” said Futterman. “At the end of the day when it came to a vote and all regions had input and the statement had been vetted, there was only one person who voted against it.”
The statement, which can be found at jcrc.org, differs from Boston and the other Jewish organizations in that it goes further in terms of opposing all discrimination against members of the LGBT community.
“It’s a little easier to say you oppose a constitutional amendment against gay marriage,” said Smith. “Where it is far-reaching is where we support laws that call for the laws to be changed to support it.”
The statement also discusses how long-term, loving, monogamous relationships benefit society as a whole, and that there should be no discrimination against LGBT couples in adopting children or providing foster care.