New Jersey's legislature has passed legislation legalizaing civil unions which should be signed by the Governor in the near future.

Hurrah for a step forward.  But LGBTQ couples should take heed of just how complicated this little step can be  .. a few twirls, hops to the right, touch your nose and hope for the best sort of step forward.

Read here to learn how the best civil union legislation in the world cannot confer the full rights of marriage ...

A good step forward nonetheless. 

A welcoming church

Thank you for Clarke Thomas' wonderfully positive and informative column "Glory to God and All God's Children" (Dec. 6). It is long overdue.

For the record, my church, Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church on the North Side, is openly and assertively GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) friendly. Until now, though, we have not been very public with our views. This is about to change.

This year, our 100th, we are completing our denomination's official GLBT welcoming process and will soon be certified as a Unitarian Universalist Association Welcoming Congregation.

PETE McQUILLIN
Forest Hills

Demonstrating once again that hate and intolerance have no room for compromise, a Floridian Presybterian minister is trying to re-start the case against her by gathering names to join him in filing charges -- again (Post-Gazette). 

The Rev. James Yearsley, who filed the complaint against her last year, is gathering the signatures of ministers and elders in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who want to join him in pursuing the case. It would not be double jeopardy since she was never tried, he said.

"I'm still accumulating names. This means that the whole process starts over," said Mr. Yearsley, who has served churches in Pittsburgh Presbytery but now works in Florida.

Previous charges against the Reverend Janet Edwards, who conducted a marriage ceremony for a lesbian couple in June 2005, were dropped last month due to a procedural violation.

Yearsley had also considered filing charges against the Presbytery itself for "mishandling the matter."  Does he imply they intentionally sidestepped the contextual issue?  Imply perhaps while acknowledging there is no evidence.  Imagine letting a little thing like evidentiary facts stand in the way of beating down the gay community!

Edwards has walked away from the process with a more subtle appreciation for the role of conflict resolution within the faith community:

"One thing I learned from the past 14 months is that the judicial process is not the best place in our church to work out our disagreement -- but it is one place where we do that," said Ms. Edwards, who is on the staff of the Community of Reconciliation in Oakland.

Here's PghLesbian previous coverage on Janet's story.