Jan Moore and Emily Sonnessa have been fighting the Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association in New Jersey for the right to have their civil union on an Association-owned pavilion in Ocean Grove. It’s not a clear-cut case of the Methodists having the right to do what they want with private property, because the church group owns all the land in the town, and received a tax break (recently rescinded) after promising to open all its facilities to the public. Moore and Sonnessa had their ceremony last week on a fishing pier near the pavilion, however. Their son, Scott E. Moore, wrote a moving piece in the Asbury Park Press about the event. It’s worth a read:
Jan and Emily took the high road and got married on the pier, not the pavilion. They were not angry or resentful. They chose and embraced love, as they always have. And now they will continue to fight for their rights and the rights of others who will follow. And they will win. . . .
This is not about politics. This is not about religion. This is about love. This is about family. This is about fairness. This is about respecting others for who they are, while always believing in yourself. This is about embracing what is wonderful, kind and good in life, and sticking together when life tries to knock you down. These are the values Jan and Emily taught me, and they taught me in the best way possible: by example. Why would any just God have a problem with that?
(Thanks to To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News.)
