May 22, 2004

USA Today
1000 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22229 

Dear Editors:

Before we read Tony Perkins’ May 17 anti-equal-marriage opinion 
we had been operating the assumption that the U.S. Constitution 
was the basis of American law.  We were aware that many people 
of faith believe their particular translation of the Bible or 
some other scripture supersedes the Constitution, but we had no 
idea that the Family Research Council was using an unspecified 
edition of Webster’s Dictionary as their ultimate authority in 
determining the correctness of legal decisions.

The word marriage has been applied to same-gender couples by a 
growing number of religious organizations, congregations and 
clergy for over thirty years.  It is about time that both the 
law (and the dictionary) reflects both common practice and the 
Constitutional promise of equality.


Sincerely,
Barbara Lamond Purdom			
Christopher Purdom
Interfaith Working Group Coordinators