Steven Cuevas
May 26, 2009
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As we've been reporting all day, the California Supreme court has upheld Proposition 8 - the voter-approved measure banning gay marriage. But the court will not invalidate the 18,000 same sex marriages carried out before the ban. Prop 8 got a lot of support from Inland Empire religious leaders. But KPCC's Steven Cuevas says some in the Adventist Church are just as split over the issue as the state's high court.

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Steven Cuevas: Had Prop 8 been shot down, gay couples still couldn't tie the knot in the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Lawrence Geraty: You have to honor a religious organization that stands up for what it believes in.

Cuevas: Lawrence Geraty is former president of La Sierra University, a large Adventist college in Riverside. He says many in the church oppose gay marriage – and homosexuality. Others are neutral. But here's the rub: lots of those against gay marriage opposed Proposition 8.

Geraty: The reason I was opposed was on religious liberty grounds.

Cuevas: Lawrence Geraty was one of those who opposed Prop 8.

Geraty: It was not technically dealing with the issue of homosexuality at all.

Cuevas: Geraty is among the current and former church leaders that make up "Adventists Against Proposition 8." It formed after a statewide board of the Adventist Church endorsed Prop 8. He says the church had no business being in that fight.

Geraty: I didn't think the Adventist church, which certainly has a right to its own beliefs, should be involved in working against the civil rights of anyone in the country. The Seventh Day Adventist Church I am proud of believes in religious liberty for everyone.

Cuevas: Geraty won't say if he'll support challenges to Proposition 8. But he expects God to lead the church to clearer understandings and expressions of the truth.