Oct 24, 2003   | COMMENTS     

NEW YORK (AP) — A Catholic pastor ordered two men out of the choir because they went public with their gay wedding, the men said. Michael Sabatino Jr., who has sung in the choir for 32 years, said he and his partner, Robert Voorheis, were confronted Oct. 19 by Monsignor Edmund Whalen as they entered St. Benedict’s Church in the Bronx. Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, the Yonkers men had been profiled on the front page of the Journal News, featured in an article on gay marriage on ChristianityToday.com and married in a United Church of Canada ceremony in Ontario that was announced in the New York Times. Whalen “told us he couldn’t have us in a public ministry after going public in the newspapers,” Sabatino told the Journal News. “He said, ‘I have parishioners who are complaining.’” Whalen referred questions to Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York, who said, “I don’t know these individuals or the specifics of their circumstances, but in the church, if … there would be a possibility that the teachings of the church would be questioned … a pastor has not only the right but the obligation to act.”

Conn., Mass. clergy refuse to sign marriage licenses in pro-gay protest
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — About a dozen clergy from Connecticut and Massachusetts announced last week that they will refuse to sign marriage licenses for heterosexual couples until unions between same-sex couples are legally recognized. Rev. Kathleen McTigue, senior minister at the Unitarian Society of New Haven, located in Hamden, helped to spearhead the effort. McTigue, who performs marriage ceremonies for both straight and gay couples, said it has long troubled her that she can sign a marriage license for one couple but not for the other. “I feel like in the 17 years of my ministry, when I have officiated for marriages, I’m participating in a bias, an inequity that is built into the legal system,” McTigue said. “The only way I know to stop participating in the bias is to stop participating in the legal dimension of it.” The clergy involved in this protest include Unitarian Universalists, a Presbyterian minister, a Jewish rabbi, and ministers from the United Church of Christ.

Gay Hawaiian pastor leads last service after termination
HONOLULU (AP) — An openly gay pastor at a small Makiki church who was being fired 10 months before the end of his three-year contract has led his last service. Rev. Vaughn Beckman’s contract was terminated by a recent 5-3 vote of the board of trustees at the First Christian Church. Beckman said he was told by a board member who voted for his ouster that “we knew you were openly gay, but it didn’t mean it has to be in the papers all the time.” He also acknowledges that he ran afoul of internal politics. Board members tried to make changes in his working conditions that were not in the contract, he said. Church treasurer Vickie Whitman and trustee Diane McGaughey said the pastor’s sexual orientation was not an issue. Whitman said the board action was taken because of “a communications issue.”

Jewish students boycott interfaith conference over snub of gay councilor
VANCOUVER — The Jewish student group Hillel Foundation withdrew its support for an interfaith conference after the Islamic group organizing the event asked councilor Tim Stevenson not to participate because he is gay, according to a report in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Stevenson, a United chruch minister, was scheduled to facilitate the discussion on the Existence of God and Human Suffering at the University of British Columbia. The interfaith conference was organized by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at of British Columbia. Two weeks before the conference, Farhan Shaheen wrote Stevenson and withdrew their invitation. “Upon further investigation, we do not believe that he will be an appropriate representative for the ideals we are trying to promote,” Shaheen wrote. Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at spokesperson was unavailable for comment.

Clergy of many faiths meet in N.J. to support gay marriage
MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Efforts among proponents of gay marriage to legalize same-sex unions prompted a forum at Montclair State University last week, the Montclair Times reported. A statewide movement to legalize gay marriage may make New Jersey one of the first states in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry, according to the Times. Several hundred people attended the event, including some Montclair clergy members. Rabbi Elliott Tepperman of Bnai Keshet synagogue told the Times, “As a religious leader, I think that all religious leaders have a special responsibility ...