It was with a sinking heart, and not a little anger, that I read last week about the appointment of Rev. Derrick Harkins as the new Faith Outreach Director for the Democratic National Committee.  Turns out Rev. Harkins, who has a long list of Democratic-leaning affiliations, is opposed to marriage equality.  When asked by Religion Dispatches’ Senior Editor Sarah Posner whether he was a supporter of same-sex marriage, he replied, “No, no, no.” As if one “no” wasn’t sufficient.

What a missed opportunity. 

With the jury of popular and faith-based opinion consistently rising in favor of marriage equality, why does our political leadership continue to pander to the lowest common (discriminatory) denominator?

Do the following statistics paint a picture of an America cowering in the potential wake of a gay marriage tsunami?

• A clear majority of Americans – from 51-53% depending on the poll – favor marriage equality. That percentage sticks even among the religiously affiliated: 53% of Catholics and 51% of mainline Protestants agree that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry.
• Six states + D.C. recognize marriage equality, including New York, where more than 700 clergy and lay leaders registered their support for the law.
• Four of the country’s largest mainline denominations endorse ordination of gay clergy (Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Church of Christ).
• Three of the country’s largest mainline denominations make room for marriage equality (Episcopal, ELCA, UCC).
• Even folks from evangelical traditions are showing their LGBT–inclusive colors, among them Jay Bakker and the popular Revolution Church in NY.
• Just last week, a body of 900 clergy and laypeople in the United Methodist Church vowed to defy their denominational ban on gay marriage and make weddings available to all. This group joins more than 1,000 UMC clergy in 19 states who have made similar vows for marriage equality.

Access to LGBT-inclusive clergy is clearly not the problem. There are literally thousands of clergy from dozens of denominations who support marriage equality; without question, there is a committed, prophetic and highly-skilled pool from which to choose an LGBT-inclusive faith director.

Popular opinion is not the problem. Poll after poll demonstrates that marriage equality is not the political hot potato it once was.

 

 The real problem is a frightening absence of courage and political-will. 

Sadly, this lack of political-will comes in part from our silence. According to a recent finding by Public Religion Research Institute, those who oppose marriage equality make it a bottom line issue when deciding who to vote for, while those who support marriage equality don’t. “Among Americans who oppose same-sex marriage, only 30% say if their representative supported this issue it would not make a difference in their support, compared to more than two-thirds (67%) who say they would be less likely to support the candidate.”

In contrast, “Among Americans who support same-sex marriage, a majority (53%) say if their representative supported this issue it would not make a difference in their support, compared to 44% who say they would be more likely to support the candidate.”

   

If these voting patterns tell us anything, it’s that supporters of marriage equality are not “single-issue” voters; far from a bad thing. But all good intentions aside, if we allow the issue to slide, how will candidates ever be put on notice regarding the importance of marriage equality?

For better or worse (pun intended), until we make marriage equality a bottom line issue, our political leaders will continue to relegate it to the back burner, hiding discriminatory policies behind the rhetoric of equality.

Image flickr jmtimages