Pride Fest event blesses gay unions

• By JARED JANES
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jun 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Tom Merrill and Rick Cain considered emigrating to Canada three years ago because they wanted to fulfill their desire to gain legal recognition of their 16-year relationship.

With California’s court decision this past week to recognize same-sex marriages, Merrill, 47, and Cain, 45, said on Saturday they might consider joining other gay couples in relocating to that state to enjoy full marital benefits under the law.

But Louisiana — and the South — is still home for the two men, they said, so for now, they’ll just continue to lobby Louisiana government officials to consider joining Canada, California and other jurisdictions in legalizing same-sex marriages.

And in the interim, they’ll settle for the group blessing of their union, along with other gay and lesbian couples, performed Saturday at Magnolia Mound Park.

The blessing of unions ceremony was performed by a minister during the Baton Rouge Pride Fest’s picnic, one of several events planned this weekend by Merrill and other members of the Metropolitan Community Church of Baton Rouge, which ministers to the homosexual and transgender community.

While the blessing celebrated the relationships of those in attendance, the ceremony was  still not quite enough for couples such as Cain and Merrill, who consider themselves married but aren’t legally recognized as such by the state.

“We do. Our families do. Our friends and co-workers do,” said Merrill, a communications specialist with the LSU AgCenter. “Really, all that’s left is the state because, in our case, our church does, too.”

Metropolitan Community Church has supported and recognized same-sex relationships since its founding in Los Angeles in 1968, said the Rev. Keith Mozingo, a pastor in the international fellowship of churches who performed Saturday’s blessing ceremony.
While the church recognizes same-sex unions, most states do not, Mozingo said. That means same-sex couples receive no benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples such as inheritance rights, income tax breaks, insurance coverage and hospital visitation.
Mozingo said he wants to see same-sex unions legalized in Louisiana because he views the matter as an equal rights issue.

“There’s a lot of talk about family values,” Mozingo said. “But the reality is that we’re a family, too.”

Angie Ashley, 45, and Lori Bogan, 42, consider themselves a family even though they have not yet gone through a commitment ceremony, Ashley said after the couple participated in the blessing ceremony Saturday. After recently celebrating 10 months together, they decided to go through a commitment ceremony once they reach their two-year anniversary.

Ashley and Bogan help raise Bogan’s two children from a previous marriage and spend most nights at home together, Ashley said. In many respects, she said, they are just like a family but one that is not legally recognized.

“She fell in love with me and I fell in love with her,” Ashley said. “It doesn’t matter what sex we are.”

Merrill and Cain have considered going through one of their church’s commitment ceremonies, but have decided not to do so until it would be legally recognized.