[Episcopal Diocese of California] More than two dozen bishops of the Episcopal Church have filed two briefs in U.S. Supreme Court supporting civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. At the invitation of the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of the Diocese of California and Christopher J. Hayes, chancellor of the diocese, bishops across the Episcopal Church joined a broad range of religious groups, organizations, and leaders in filings in two historic cases pending in the Supreme Court.

The bishops represent dioceses located in the states of California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

In one filing, bishops in California unanimously supported a challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that ended access to civil marriage for same-sex couples in state. They joined Episcopal bishops in nine other states and Washington, D.C., 29 bishops in all, representing 23 out of 24 dioceses in civil jurisdictions with marriage equality, in supporting a second brief challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which prevents the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex civil marriages in their dioceses.

In 2006, the Episcopal Church General Convention of the adopted a resolution calling on federal, state, and local governments to provide legal protection for same-sex couples and opposed the adoption of laws like Proposition 8 that prohibit same-sex civil marriages or civil unions. The 2009 General Convention authorized “bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, [to] provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church.”

The 2012 General Convention called on Congress to repeal DOMA and similar laws.

The bishops who have joined these briefs have engaged in a generous pastoral response, many by authorizing the priests of their diocese to officiate at same-sex civil marriages. Other amici joining the Episcopal bishops on both briefs include the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the international association of conservative rabbis; the Union for Reform Judaism; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis; the Unitarian Universalist Association; and the United Church of Christ among others. Groups within the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American, Society of Friends, and The United Methodist Church also signed the brief.

The Episcopal bishops signing the briefs include: In the Proposition 8 case, Hollingsworth v. Perry: the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of California; the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, bishop of El Camino Real; the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, bishop suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, bishop suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner, bishop of Northern California; the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, bishop of San Diego; and the Rt. Rev. Chester L. Talton, bishop of San Joaquin. These bishops all serve the Episcopal Church in the State of California.

In the DOMA case, United States v. Windsor: the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of California; the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, bishop of El Camino Real; the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, bishop suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner, bishop of Northern California; the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, bishop of San Diego; the Rt. Rev. Chester L. Talton, bishop of San Joaquin; the Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, bishop of Connecticut; the Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens, bishop suffragan of Connecticut; the Rt. Rev. James E. Curry, bishop suffragan of Connecticut; the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington (D.C.); the Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, bishop of Iowa; the Rt. Rev. Stephen T. Lane, bishop of Maine; the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, bishop of Maryland; the Rt. Rev. Joe Goodwin Burnett, assistant bishop of Maryland; the Rt. Rev. James Joseph Shand, bishop of Easton (Md.); the Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw SSJE, bishop of Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, bishop of Western Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, bishop of New Hampshire; the Rt. Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche, bishop of New York; the Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, bishop of Long Island (N.Y.); the Rt. Rev. Gladstone B. Adams III, bishop of Central New York; the Rt. Rev. Prince G. Singh, bishop of Rochester (N.Y.); the Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin, bishop of Western New York; the Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely, bishop of Vermont; the Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, Bishop of Olympia (Wash.); and the Rt. Rev. James E. Waggoner, Jr., bishop of Spokane (with respect to the portion of the diocese located in the State of Washington).