The other side of religious liberty and same-sex marriage

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s marriage decisions, debates about the effects on religious groups have dominated the religious blogosphere. “Gay marriage fight now becomes a religious liberty fight,” claims the headline of one Washington Examiner column. Behind such headlines lies a far less univocal history, and no doubt a much more complicated present reaction among religious communities. From this perspective, the fight for marriage equality has always been deeply engaged in religion.

In 1971, United Methodist minister Roger W. Lynn officiated at the marriage of Jack Baker and James Michael McConnell. The couple was already famous; in 1970, they had applied for a marriage license in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Their application was denied. They sued, but they lost at the Minnesota Supreme Court. One justice was so outraged at the object of their suit that he turned his back when the lawyer for the couple argued their side of the case.

We often forget the key role that Lynn played in this story. The wedding of Baker and McConnell changed the lives of both men, of course. Lynn’s life was also changed. He determined that his vocation lay in ensuring the familial and communal support that should be available to all loving couples. These are sacred relationships, he said. Lynn never regretted celebrating the marriage, although he was fired as a result.