Unitarian Universalists work to preserve gay marriage in Calif.

With Election Day drawing near and conservative religious groups investing more than $25 million in efforts to end same-sex marriage in California, Unitarian Universalists throughout the state are mobilizing to fight back on behalf of marriage equality.

At phone banks, vigils, and rallies, UUs are urging Californians to vote “No” on Proposition 8. If the “Yes” vote prevails, the measure would amend the state constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California, reversing a state Supreme Court decision in May, and would provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in California.

“It’s important that the No message comes through religious institutions,” said Stephanie Stolte, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County in Modesto, who is helping to organize an interfaith effort to defeat Proposition 8 in California’s conservative Central Valley. “It’s about fundamental freedom and whether or not our state constitution is able to function to protect minority rights. That is just a plain old American value about equal treatment under the law.”

Stolte is working with the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry (UULM), which formed the UULM Action Network Political Action Committee (PAC) to allow it to raise money to support legislation and ballot measures consistent with Unitarian Universalist values and to oppose measures that are not. The Rev. Lindi Ramsden is executive director of the Sacramento-based PAC. “We’re working specifically in faith communities,” she said. “Unitarian Universalists have helped to open doors to engage people of faith from UU and other backgrounds.”

A cornerstone of the campaign has been phone banking to reach out to undecided voters. The Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa, has been hosting phone banks three days a week. On October 16, it hosted its first clergy phone bank, part of a statewide interfaith effort to involve clergy who oppose the ballot measure in reaching out to voters. Deborah Mason, the congregation’s director of religious education, has been volunteering for the “No on 8” effort since the ballot measure was certified in June.

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Unitarian Universalists work to preserve gay marriage in Calif.
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