Mazel tov, JCRC, for pushing same-sex rights
By
The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
Last week, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council gave its support of civil marriage for same-sex couples — with the distinction that all clergy do not have to perform such unions nor recognize them as religiously valid.
We congratulate the JCRC for not only making a statement about this issue but for doing so in a way that its members with diverse opinions — especially the Orthodox — could support. JCRC president Michael Futterman said that after all regions and organizations had their input, there was only one person who voted against it.
The statement (which can be found on its Web site, www.jcrc.org) is comprehensive in scope.
As our news story reports, not only does the JCRC support the rights of same-sex couples to legally marry but the resolution says that society is bettered as a whole through such loving, monogamous relationships. It also states that any form of discrimination against LGBT couples should not be tolerated, and that such couples should be able to adopt or offer foster care to a child.
The statement notes that simply allowing LGBT couples to register as domestic partners is not enough, as that suggests less-than-equal status. Domestic partnership is still discriminatory; it does not allow the same privileges that married heterosexual couples enjoy, such as property transfer, the right to file joint tax returns and the rights to Social Security and pension benefits.
As Jesse Smith, who chaired the JCRC's task force on the resolution, said, "It's a little easier to say you oppose a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. Where it is far-reaching is where we support laws that call for the laws to be changed to support it."
While congratulations are indeed in order for this watershed moment, at the same time that we offer a hearty "mazel tov," we also can't help but ask, "What took so long?"
The Bay Area prides itself on being the most forward-thinking community in the country; what we do first, others eventually follow, and the Jewish community is no exception. Especially when it comes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
After the landmark ruling in the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowing same-sex couples the right to marry in 2003, the JCRC of Greater Boston came out in favor of civil marriage for same-sex couples in early 2004. Several other Jewish communities followed suit.
Smith called this topic "one of the biggest civil rights issues of our day," and clearly, it's not going to go away. Now, if only the state — and the country — would listen.
