Religious Perspectives: Catholic

The Catholic Church strongly opposes both religious same-sex marriage and legal same-sex marriage, stating that: “Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behavior, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself.”

The official position of the Catholic Church on same-sex marriage can be found in “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” a statement of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. An additional statement by the United States Bishops, can be found in “Between Man and Woman, Questions and Answers on Marriage and Same Sex Unions.”

A minority of the Catholic Church supports gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals. One of the oldest such groups is Dignity USA which was founded in 1969.