Come Out and Get Hitched!

"Coming Out For Marriage Equality" March and Rally
Saturday, October 15
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March 5pm, Ceremony 5:30pm
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Though the government may not be ready to accept same-sex marriage, it seems the man upstairs is giving his thumbs up. Well, sort of. The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin will be performing a mass same-sex marriage and commitment ceremony on the Capitol steps this Saturday at 5:30pm. It may be too short of a notice to get your wedding invites printed, but your friends will understand it's not shotgun.

“Marriage is about love and commitment, and GLBT citizens want the same rights to express their commitment to a life-partner that heterosexual citizens enjoy,” says Reverend Meg Barnhouse, who will be officiating the ceremony by the powers vested in her.

Members of the church will attend as part of the “Standing on the Side of Love” campaign, which seeks to elevate compassionate religious voices to influence public attitudes and public policy. In addition, the campaign also fights to bring compassion to immigration rights. The Unitarian Universalist Association sponsors the campaign and everyone is welcome to be a part of it. Numerous other campaign events throughout the country can be found on their website. The association has officially been against discrimination of the LGBT community since 1970 and has called for full, legal marriage equality since 1996.

The ceremony is part of the “Coming Out for Marriage Equality” March and Rally organized by GetEQUAL. Similar marches will take place all over Texas. The march will begin at Republic Square Park and end at the Capitol. Even if you're not tying the knot, you're encouraged to wear wedding attire and bring flowers.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Travis Sandoval in Other on October 14, 2011 11:47 AM 0 Comments

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Yelsewh

While individual Unitarian Universalists may believe in god the "church" does not have an official position on god and many members are athiest or agnostic. Long story short, if you think that God or the Christian church approves of same sex marriage based on the position of this Unitarian Universalist congregation then you may want to reconsider that position.

FYI I am a member of a mainline protestant Christian denomination and some of our congregations perform same sex ceremonies and even ordain homosexual clergy. I simply wanted to point out that the "man upstairs" doesn't have much to do with the beliefs of Unitarian Universalists.