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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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
to
be
welcoming
to
gays
and
lesbians
of
the
community.
Our
tradition
teaches
that
all
people
were
created
in
the
image
of
God.
And
because
of
that,
I
feel
that
religious
leaders
have
a
special
responsibility
to
advocate
for
the
equal
rights
of
all
people,
which
clearly
includes
gays
and
lesbians.”
