CHICAGO—Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decisions resulting in more quality for the LGBT community, African-American ministers in Illinois who are proponents rejoice at the country, and possibly the state, becoming a step closer to “marriage equality,” while opponents pledge to continue the fight against local legislation.
“I’m elated, so that we can get past this to let many tax-paying and very often God-loving and Christ-following same-gender American [couples] enjoy equal rights, something that Dr. King lost his life for,” said Bishop Carlton Pearson, who leads the New Dimensions Worship Center in Chicago.
The Supreme Court Wednesday struck down a portion of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that same-sex couples who are legally married should get the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples.
Minutes after the landmark ruling, the Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriage in California by maintaining that defenders of the state’s gay marriage ban didn’t have the right to appeal a lower court’s rulings that struck down the ban.
Gay marriage still undecided in Illinois
Rev. Dr. Richard L. Tolliver, director of St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church in Chicago said how happy he was to hear of the Supreme Court rulings and how he didn’t anticipate any other decision. He described the DOMA decision as a door opener for states like Illinois, where same-sex marriage is still illegal.
“I think in other jurisdictions, what the DOMA decision does is open up the way for more litigation to expand marriage equality in those states that currently don’t offer it,” Tolliver told theGrio. “The Supreme Court set a precedent. There will be more cases that come to it and within a few years, they will rule that marriage equality will quickly become something legal in the United States.”
Within undecided states, Tolliver said, “I think what you will see is that at least among politicians in jurisdictions where people are divided, these rulings give them the cover they need to become more aggressive in pushing marriage equality in their respective legislative areas.”
Currently 12 states and the District of Columbia have adopted same-sex marriage, however the issue continues to remain up for debate in Illinois, which passed Senate Bill 10, the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, in the state Senate on Valentine’s Day.
The Illinois House of Representatives closed its most recent session without a vote on the issue and several congressmen still undecided.
Support in the governor’s office
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who in 2011 signed into law civil unions in the state, has said that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
“I will continue working with members of the Illinois House and all of our tireless community advocates to bring marriage equality to Illinois as soon as possible,” Quinn said in a statement Wednesday about the Supreme Court action on DOMA.
The issue has been particularly contentious among black ministers across Illinois, many of whom hail from conservative churches and communities that have traditionally opposed gay marriage, stating that it redefines the Bible’s definition of marriage.
Attempting to allay church leaders’ concern that the legislation may redefine marriage, President Barack Obama stated that regarding Wednesday’s DOMA ruling, “on an issue as sensitive as this, knowing that Americans hold a wide range of views based on deeply held beliefs, maintaining our nation’s commitment to religious freedom is also vital. How religious institutions define and consecrate marriage has always been up to those institutions. Nothing about this decision – which applies only to civil marriages – changes that.”
Silence is not an endorsement
Several groups, including Illinois Unites for Marriage—which has many local African-American ministers involved—went against the grain earlier this year and pledged support for gay marriage coming to Illinois. Following many group’s support of gay marriage in Illinois, the African-American Clergy Coalition, a group of Chicago-area ministers, formed to push a multimedia campaign hoping to deter lawmakers from supporting the measure.
The group said it spoke out only because it didn’t want silence to be interpreted as an endorsement of gay marriage in Illinois.
Group co-chair Bishop Lance Davis told theGrio that even though the rulings advanced Wednesday, “in the state of Illinois, as well as those other states that have not accepted or passed the legislation, it is still in their corner. It’s their responsibility now to uphold what the Bible says, regardless of what anyone says.”
In a statement signed by Bishops Davis and Larry Trotter, and released shortly after the rulings, the coalition pledged to continue its fight against the pending legislation in Illinois.
“Today’s Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a part of the Defense of Marriage Act recognizes same-sex marriage only in states where it’s currently legal. The People of the State of Illinois, along with 38 other States, still have the right to determine if gay marriage should become law in their respective states,” the bishops state.
“God created marriage to be between one man and one woman. Those of us who are believers will continue to fight for and defend God’s Holy Word,” they concluded.
A ‘true’ interpretation of the Bible
The latter argument is one that Anthony Stanford, author of Homophobia in the Black Church, says may be the only words that opponents can continue to utter in the debate.
“They can’t argue on DOMA anymore, it could be strictly biblical now,” Stanford said of opponents’ argument.
Stanford, who has spoken on the issue extensively said, “most of the clergy against now speak to me about the biblical aspect of it, it being against God’s divine order and when I hear that, those are people you’re not going to change their mind, no matter what happens. It’s really about the legality in that the highest court in the land just made a ruling in that no matter how they feel, it’s the law.”
Since the highest court in the land gave a major national push in an argument that has quickly ensued nationally and locally, Stanford said opponent efforts to thwart an Illinois House ruling in favor of gay marriage would be a waste of time and money.
“[Opponents] really should not spend anymore money trying to fight what is inevitable. They really should not waste the taxpayers’ money making this issue an argument, spending the time and the taxpayers’ dollars to do so,” Stanford told theGrio.
Asked whether the fight against gay marriage legalization in Illinois continues to be worth it, Davis said, “We’re going to step it up times three if we can. From the very beginning we said it is a fight for righteousness and the true interpretation of the Bible.”
Renita D. Young is a Chicago-based multimedia journalist. Follow her on Twitter @RenitaDYoung.