They poured into Prince of Peace Lutheran church in Scottsdale by the hundreds, on a glorious, sun-drenched April afternoon. The youngest attendee (festively adorned in a lacy white head bow) was no more than a few months old, while some others looked to be well past 90. Some arrived in sparkly Mercedes convertibles, draped in designer labels, while others wore casually comfortable polo shirts and sun dresses. Next-door neighbors and passers-by would have assumed a Saturday church service or concert was at hand. In a way, they were right.
A traditional Lutheran service (led by the phenomenal Rev. Rick Sherrill), along with communion and some dazzling music, were indeed part of the program. But this bright, picture perfect scene, draped in love, peace, deep spirituality and loyal community, would also enrage and/or outrage thousands of Arizona residents, not to mention some (maybe most?) of the GOP Presidential candidates.
The marriage of long-time Scottsdale residents Jim Taylor, 62, a semi-retired pharmacist, and Dr. Allen Quie, 49, an Arizona schools district principal, certainly wasn’t the first gay wedding held in Arizona since it became legal in 2014.
That said, it surely had to be one of the biggest in the state’s admittedly short history -- 400 plus guests, representing a wide swath of religions, ages and backgrounds. Guests flew in from places like North Dakota (both grooms’ home state), California, New York, and Illinois. Many were Prince of Peace members. Many were Mormon, while others were Presbyterian, Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant. But everyone shared one thing in common: an abiding love, respect and support for the beaming couple, who had been together 23 years before this seemingly impossible day became possible.
The mix of attendees was wide, and the random reception chatter (“Oh, those Methodists!” chuckled one, while another exclaimed, “Are you a sinner? We’re ALL sinners…”) reminded me that religion remains at the center of the vast majority of lives in this state. It’s a hot topic. Being at this wedding was an act of love, but for many neighboring churches, it could be heresy as well.
Sensing a large gay wedding might be ‘news’ (given the media attention to the ongoing marriage fight in places like Alabama and religious freedom laws in Indiana and Arkansas), Jim Geldien, the best man in the wedding - and a prominent real estate and interior designer with a long list of wealthy Valley clients — pitched the story to a friend/contact at the Arizona Republic. “She wouldn’t go near the story,” said Geldien, who recently left their long-time Paradise Valley church with his husband, Mark Ficklin (they were married recently in Hawaii after 30 years together) due to a ‘no gays’ policy for church leadership.
As a long-time New Yorker, hearing this is sad — actually shocking — stuff. Yet the tears shed during the moving, emotional ceremony weren’t gay tears, they were human ones. How can everyone not see this?
Thankfully, many do see and know -- in fact, the overwhelming majority of the wedding’s guests were straight and Republican. They attended because of their obvious love and support for two men they knew as gay, but also knew as neighbors, congregation members, co-workers, as a son, brother, or nephew. This is what face-to-face relationships will do to those literal interpretations of the Bible (eating shellfish is also an ‘abomination’ in Leviticus, right?). Who with a beating Christian heart and spirit could experience the overwhelming, loving energy in the Prince of Peace church and define this long-term loving and dedicated relationship as an ‘abomination’? Impossible!