March 15, 2004

The Oregonian
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201

Dear Editors:

In his March 7 column David Reinhard posits the existence of something called 
“same-sex marriage” or “gay marriage” that is somehow “one assault too many.”  
He also says that this must be stopped through an amendment to the constitution 
lest it offend the religious sensibilities of some significant portion of the
populace.  

Civil marriage is a legal status entered into by two people and there is nothing 
in the law except convention and belief that in any way makes it gender-specific.  
While there is no question that the majority of faith communities believe that 
marriage is gender-specific and would choose to limit the marriages they recognize 
to those of mixed-gender couples, there is also no question that the number of 
faith communities that do not discriminate on the basis of gender is growing
steadily. 

Religious discrimination in religious marriage is legal, but religious 
discrimination in civil marriage is clearly unconstitutional.  If people feel 
assaulted they need to get over it.  The only people being assaulted are those 
whose families are denied the equal protections of the law.  


Sincerely,
Barbara Lamond Purdom			
Christopher Purdom
Interfaith Working Group Coordinators