We, the undersigned, unite as one religious voice in unwavering support of the right to legal marriage for same-sex couples. While we bear witness to a broad range of religious beliefs and practices with regard to marriage for same-sex couples, we believe the State of Maine should not deny the legal status of marriage to same-sex couples who choose to accept that obligation and commitment.

As religious people we are called to stand for justice for all people in our common civic life. After the necessities of food, clothing and shelter, the right to affection and the supportive love of another human being is considered a most vital part of human dignity and fulfillment. Equally important is the right to form familial bonds, to share economic resources, and to provide care and support to loved ones in sickness and in health. Marriage is an institution that offers a host of legal, economic, and social protections and responsibilities to couples who choose to enter into this covenant. Denial of the status of marriage to same-sex couples who would freely accept its responsibilities creates legal, economic, and social hardship and is inherently a form of discrimination.
Furthermore, good marriages benefit the entire community and express the religious values of long-term commitment and faithfulness. As many of our traditions affirm, where there is love, we find the presence of the divine among us. We believe this is no less true in the love between same-sex couples. We would judge relationships not by the gender of the partners, but by the quality of the love between them.

We respect the fact that debate and discussion continue in many of our religious communities concerning the theological and ethical issues of marriage. We support the right of all religious communities to make their own decisions about whom to marry within their faith traditions. By the same token, a denial of civil recognition dishonors the religious convictions of those faith communities and clergy who do officiate and bless the marriages of same-sex couples.

We draw on our diverse religious traditions to arrive at a common conviction: the State of Maine should allow same-sex couples to share fully and equally in the legal institution of marriage and do all that it can to eradicate current discrimination and the lingering effects of past discrimination against our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters.

As religious leaders, we commit ourselves to public action, visibility, education, and mutual support in the service of the right and freedom to marry.

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