For Immediate Release
Contact: Ari Geller or Samantha Friedman, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, 202-265-3000, ari@rabinowitz-dorf.com or samantha@rabinowitz-dorf.com
The proposed Constitutional Amendment would have imposed one religious definition of marriage over other religious views. This would take the debate and power away from houses of worship to decide who they will or will not marry and put it squarely in the hands of the federal government.
“For those people who want to protect marriage, let me offer a few suggestions,” said the Rev. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance. “Raise the public’s consciousness of the dignity and importance of women in our still deeply patriarchal society; increase the minimum wage and offer tax breaks to the working poor so that spouses can see each other for quality lengths of time, rather than briefly passing on their way to two jobs; encourage family planning; start a plan to deal with domestic violence; and work to cover mental health care in medical insurance policies so serious emotional difficulties can be prevented from tearing marriages apart.”
Gaddy stressed these are real world solutions for dealing with the real world problem of protecting marriage and thanked members of The Interfaith Alliance for lending the support and time to fight the amendment.
“Our grassroots activists helped stop this amendment,” said Gaddy. “More than 5,000 members of The Interfaith Alliance contacted their Senators by email, phone call, fax or letter telling them to stay out of the houses of worship for the sake of religion and the institution of marriage.”
The U.S. House is looking to introduce similar legislation as early as this summer and The Interfaith Alliance will continue its work to ensure religious liberty for all Americans.
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The Interfaith Alliance celebrates
religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that
protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge
extremism. Founded in 1994, the Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country
from 75 faith traditions as well as those without a faith tradition. For more
information visit www.interfaithalliance.org.