(Updated 6-28-13) Marriage equality for all was reaffirmed today by the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the six-county Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, who commented after the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement of its rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Prop. 8.
“Today we reaffirm that marriage equality does indeed mean marriage equality for all,” Bruno said. “This understanding is widely held within the Diocese of Los Angeles and endorsed by the larger Episcopal Church through its General Convention.”
We rejoice at the repeal of DOMA’s discrimination against LGBT families, and we feel confident that Gov. Brown and Attorney Gen. Harris will act swiftly to restore marriage for same-gender couples in California now that the U.S. Supreme Court action will allow the lower court’s decision to stand,” Bishop Bruno added.
“Pastoral and liturgical support for same-gender couples remains a priority in the Diocese of Los Angeles,” said Bishop Bruno, who five years ago formed a diocesan Task Force on Marriage to provide consultation and collaboration in this area. Meanwhile, Episcopalians at the churchwide level, responding to General Convention actions, formed a similar body and developed liturgies for provisional use.
To offer a prayerful community response to the Supreme Court decisions, Bishop Bruno presided at a “A Celebration of Equality” service of Holy Eucharist on June 27 at St. John’s ProCathedral, attended by about 200 people.
In her sermon, Bishop Suffragan Mary D. Glasspool reminded the congregation that the Supreme Court on June 25 issued a ruling striking down provisions of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, allowing states to pass laws that might restrict voting rights. She told the story of the 1912 “Bread and Roses” labor strike in Lawrence, Mass., in which people of many races, creeds and backgrounds stood together nonviolently for fair wages. Glasspool held up that action as a model for moving “from equality to solidarity.”
“Remember that there will not be true justice for any one until there is justice for everyone,” Glasspool said. “But remember it all in the context of our community, for as Christians, ‘we are more than conquerors through him who loved us’” (Romans 8:37).
For further information or media interviews, contact Robert Williams, Canon for Community Relations, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, rwilliams@ladiocese.org; 213.308.0222.