Letter to the Editor

The Very Reverend Scott Richardson, Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in San Diego, shares this Letter to Editor he submitted to his local paper in response to the California Supreme Court decision on marriage equality. We are posting it here in the hopes that others might "go and do likewise."

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May 17, 2008

Dear Editor,

When I served at All Saints Church in Pasadena I had the opportunity and honor to preside at several services wherein couples of the same gender made life-long vows to one another.

We did not call these liturgies “marriages” but they approximated that rite, both in the preparation for the service and in the ceremony itself. Families were not undermined, children were not confused, marriages were not threatened, and society did not implode.

Here’s what did happen in each case: two people, deeply in love, promised to order their life together around our oldest and most cherished values – mutual regard, fidelity, and commitment.

I applaud the recent decision of our state’s Supreme Court and pray that every Californian will soon know the same joy I experienced by supporting all couples, gay and straight, who wish to live according to these sacred precepts.

(The Very Reverend) Scott Richardson, Dean
Saint Paul’s Cathedral