The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: News

On Fri., Feb. 9, fourteen of the College's students attended a Freedom to Marry rally outside the Lehigh County Courthouse. The rally protested marriage inequality in Pa. and was sponsored by the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), the Pennsylvania Diversity Network and the College's Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). Adrian Shanker '09, Co-President of our College's GSA, was the third speaker at the rally. He spoke along with Reverend Beth Gowdy, minister at MCC and organizer of the protest. Reverend Gowdy first started organizing these courthouse rallies in February 2003 at the Northampton courthouse. Liz Bradbury, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Diversity Network and Rabbi Jonathan Gerard also spoke at the rally.

After the speeches, couples who are in a committed homosexual relationships lined up to request marriage licenses. The license was, of course, denied but the purpose of this demonstration was to document the denial of the marriage requests and show the legal discrimination against homosexual couples.

Shanker explained that the rally was really more of a courthouse action aimed at the media. NBC, FOX News Philadelphia and The Morning Call came to publicize the protest, making it a success, despite the cold weather. Reverend Gowdy commented that "this year's rally was the coldest and windiest we have ever had and so it was the briefest rally we've had. Next year, we are hoping for better weather so that the rally lasts longer. In past years when the weather has been

better, we've rallied for multiple hours!"

Shanker also commented about the cold weather but nevertheless felt that his speech went very well. "I was very happy with it. What I wanted to make very clear is that we are not settling for anything less than a marriage union. Marriage is a civil right, not a heterosexual privilege." Shanker believes that settling for civil unions is accepting a separate but equal policy. "Since separate but equal worked so well with education in this country, it really makes sense to

do that with relationships as well. Please, we have been there, done that, and it failed. The gay community represents the next rung on the ladder of civil rights," says Shanker.

Shanker and the other rally members were rallying for civil marriage rights, not religious rights. There are many religious denominations that perform gay and lesbian marriages including Unitarian Universalists, Deconstructionist Judaism and Reformed Judaism. Just last Saturday, Metropolitan Community Church blessed over twenty same-sex couples and married one same-sex couple with eight clergy from around the Lehigh Valley. "Our fight is not about religion, it is about equal rights," says Shanker. Reverend Gowdy assures the community that the Courthouse Rally will continue on the second Friday of every year until equal rights are given to the gay and lesbian community by legalizing same-sex relationships.

Despite the consistent stand against gay marriage from the U.S. government, there does seem to be a noticeable change in terms of young people promoting equal rights for all couples. "This was the first year we had significant involvement of college-aged supporters and I hope it

grows every year. Young people have the power to change institutions with continuous direct action," says Reverend Gowdy. Bringing a younger voice to this political issue adds an interesting and essential perspective. The GSA will continue to remain active in its cause and will be holding its annual QueerFest celebration from March 20 - 22. On March 21, they will be serving dinner in the Garden Room for nyone who would like to attend.

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