Let Gays Marry in Memorial Church

On Sunday, January 12th, the Undergraduate Council voted by a majority of 34 to 6 to recommend that the Board of Ministry of Memorial Church allow "same-sex blessing ceremonies" to be commemorated in the Church. We applaud the council's recommendation and join our voices to their call for extending the services of Memorial Church to homosexual couples.

Memorial Church presently has no policy pertaining to blessing ceremonies for same-sex unions. Despite the lack of any official position, though, the Board of Ministry, the administrative board that oversees religious institutions at Harvard, has denied requests by homosexual couples to have blessing ceremonies. The Church explains that the content and character of blessing ceremonies has not yet been determined, and that they could not possibly conduct ceremonies of such an amorphous nature, as Memorial Church adheres to a strict policy of only presiding over weddings, funerals and memorial services. Although the Church is not adverse to same-sex ceremonies, they are bound by the decisions of the Board of Ministry, which will be meeting in February.

By closing the doors of Memorial Church to homosexual couples desiring to sanctify their union with a blessing ceremony, the administrative board is discriminating against homosexuals who have chosen to commit to each other and who want to do so within the auspices of the church. Harvard has a staunch policy on non-discrimination; to exclude same-sex couples from blessing ceremonies in Harvard's Memorial Church is blatantly to disregard this policy.

Those who oppose this policy recommendation do so on two grounds. The first is pragmatic: the U.C. has no right to dictate morality--or anything else--to a religious institution. As John J. Appelbaum '97 vocalized after the meeting, "I think the U.C. should stay out of the matters of the house of God."

However, Memorial Church is not just any house of God. It is a Harvard-affiliated house of God--the church of Harvard University--and, as such, is bound by the policies and regulations of the greater Harvard community. Harvard does not allow discrimination against homosexual men and women in any of its other spheres of influence; Memorial Church should be no different.

The second point of contention centers around a more morality-tinged concern, namely that authorizing same-sex blessing ceremonies in Memorial Church will serve to legitimize homosexuality as a valid form of relationship.

If only allowing same-sex blessing ceremonies in Memorial Church could have such far-reaching implications. Unfortunately, blessing ceremonies are a far cry from weddings, and although Governor William F. Weld '66 recently decided to recognize gay marriages performed in other states, homosexual marriages remain unsanctioned in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

We support the U.C.'s decision to encourage the Board of Ministries to open its doors to all members of our community for blessing, minimally in the form of same-sex blessing ceremonies and, ultimately, through homosexual marriages.