Washington National Cathedral to Wed Same-Sex Couples

When laws went into effect in three states for same-sex couples to marry, many lined up at their city halls to exchange vows. Now they may do so in one of the nation's most prominent churches: the Washington National Cathedral, CNN reports. The cathedral, site of presidential funerals and inaugural prayer services, is also an active place of worship for the Episcopal Church. The denomination has developed a blessing rite that mirrors current wedding ceremonies for heterosexual couples and allows each bishop to decide whether to allow same-sex marriages in their church or not, and since gay marriage is legal in the District of Columbia and now in neighboring Maryland as well, Bishop Mariann Budde decided to allow the rite. The cathedral's dean, Gary Hall, sees it as "another historic step toward greater equality." He added that embracing gay marriage is "being faithful to the kind of community that Jesus would have us be."