The new Arizona law prompted a memory. My wife and I once lived in a town in Texas. It was common practice for the police there to pull over people passing through — often just for \u201cdriving while being Hispanic.\u201d\u009d We are both ministers. We asked, \u201cIs that how we would want to be treated, if we were Hispanic?\u201d\u009d We protested then against racial profiling. We do so now.<\/p>\n
My wife was the first woman ordained an Episcopal priest in Texas. I\u2019m a Unitarian. Despite some people considering us to be \u201cthe odd couple\u201d\u009d among clergy, we have been married since 1972. We apply the same Golden Rule logic to the issue of marriage equality for loving couples of the same gender. In my present Massachusetts congregation I have five such couples, all raising children together. They can marry in this state but still cannot file their federal income taxes as married couples. So we also protest the federal \u201cDefense of Marriage\u201d\u009d Act. It doesn\u2019t help to defend our marriage, or any marriage. It gets in the way of applying the Golden Rule.<\/p>\n