On marriage, partnership, civil rights

President Obama recently reminded us all, strongly, that the Constitution guarantees equal rights for all citizens.  And that marriage is a civil contract; various religious groups can, of course, have their own celebrations and restrict who has access to those celebrations if they choose.  But they can’t restrict the rights of other people.  Not so many years ago my own marriage, to a Roman Catholic, would have been forbidden, since I was then a Congregationalist.  I can only add that I have never understood how what other folks did in any way threatened my own marriage, now in its 45th year.  And, indeed, the Roman Catholic Church would not marry us; luckily, the Episcopalian chaplain at Columbia University would, so that we were able to have an actual wedding in a church setting to which family and friends could (and did) come.  And, on a side note, Ohio just began to recognize domestic partnerships, and we were pleased to note that old friends Karla Rothan and Linda Schuler were the first to register their partnership in Columbus.