Californians react to court decision legalizing gay marriage

This Episcopal News Service article by Pat McCaughan quotes from +Jon Bruno, +Marc Andrus, and Susan Russell...

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97139_ENG_HTM.htm

Here's the portion quoting Susan...

Time for the church to be prophetic
But the Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, an organization of Episcopalians committed to full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] persons, called the ruling a huge step forward for "marriage and the sanctity and importance of marriage and against bigotry and separation."

She said it is now time for the church to "be as prophetic as the state of California has been."

"I am convinced the church should do no less. When we baptize, there are no conditions on those baptisms," Russell declared.

She recalled a friend whose comments are posted on her blog, who is a "Florida attorney, who happens to be a straight, white, male, libertarian-leaning-conservative Episcopalian" who called the court's decision conservative.

"There is no judicial innovation here, just the recognition that, under well established law, marriage is a fundamental right and that for a statute abridging that right to pass constitutional muster, the government must demonstrate a compelling state interest served by that restriction," her unnamed friend is quoted as saying.

Russell, who is associate priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena, said the church is hosting a panel discussion about the ruling at 10:15 am on Sunday, May 18. Panel members will include Russell, attorney Bob Long, activist Dave Frick, and parish Peace & Justice director Lori Kizzia.

Russell said there is a huge backlog of people who have had unions blessed and now want to exercise their civic opportunities for marriage, too.

"It's very exciting for us to consider what our role in that will be and what our opportunities will be," she added.