Spokanites were just starting their day Wednesday morning when headlines flashed across TV screens and Facebook came alive with news that the Supreme Court had ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
“The Constitution is for all Americans. DOMA and Prop 8 are history. Ann and I are thrilled. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all our friends and family who have supported us as a couple for so many years,” Catherine Paul Wetherald, of Spokane, posted to her Facebook page when she heard the news.
Paul Wetherald was married to her partner, Ann, in April, a few months after same-sex marriage became legal in Washington State. However, it wasn’t the first time the women made a public commitment to one another. They had a holy union ceremony in 2006, then in 2007 registered as domestic partners.
“It’s been exhausting waiting for somebody else to determine what rights you have,” she said, “and in this case, a lump of nine people determining what rights you have.”
After excitement from Wednesday’s news settled, though, Paul Wetherald found a different, unexpected emotion running through her: Anger.
After seven years together, some friends and family still refuse to acknowledge she and Ann’s relationship, she said. And the homophobia has gotten old.
“I have an advanced degree in theology,” she said. “After listening to all those (Christian) arguments, I realized those people have never read the Scriptures. They’re idolaters of the first class who hold up the Bible as if it’s this great golden calf and worship it and use it then to justify their hatred, and they do it in the name of Christ.”
“You think I’m going to hell, I get that. Fine, go pray for my soul. I‘ll pray for your soul as well, but let me have my civil rights,” she said.
Still, she says, she’s grateful that the country’s progressing and is hopeful that more people will begin to realize that religion and civil liberties “aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.”
The Rev. Alan Eschenbacher of All Saints Lutheran Church said the Supreme Court's decision is a big deal and represents America's changing theology.
“People finally realize this is about equality and it's a justice issue. I'm pleased they did the right thing, and it's huge,” he said.
Gonzaga University student Zach Oxford-Romeike, who is engaged to his boyfriend, agrees.
“I think it's a great day to be an American. I've watched so many people over this last year get politically active because this issue means so much to them, myself included, and to see DOMA get struck down is a way of showing that change can come to this country through effort,” he said. “I'm so grateful to finally be able to marry the man I love, and I think this day is a sign that I won't be the only one to be able to do that in this country in the years to come.”
However, Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, says the same-sex marriage debate still has a long way to go and that the battle will continue state by state.
“The Supreme Court got it wrong when it said that the state can tell the federal government how it must define marriage,” he said in a statement. “The federal government, on behalf of those who elected them, should be able to recognize the unique value of relationships that provide children a mother and a father.”
Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, said he too was saddened by the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Time is not on the side of those seeking to create same-sex marriage. As the American people are given time to experience the actual consequences of redefining marriage, the public debate and opposition to the redefinition of natural marriage will undoubtedly intensify,” he said.
