The Wedding: Now More Than Ever!

The Rev. Elder Troy D. Perry, founder and moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), has announced "The Wedding: Now More Than Ever!," a public demonstration and non-sectarian ceremony, which will take place on Saturday, April 29. UFMCC is the world's largest and oldest spiritual organization offering positive affirming spirituality to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

With thousands of couples expected to take vows at the commitment ceremony, it will be the world's largest ever non-sectarian demonstration celebrating same-gender marriage, and one of the highlights of the festivities surrounding the Millennium March on Washington for Equality, scheduled for April 30, 2000.

Rev. Jimmy Creech, former United Methodist clergy and an outspoken advocate for holy unions of same-sex marriages, will speak at the Wedding. Rev. Creech, a United Methodist minister for 29 years, lost his credentials in November 1999 after a United Methodist Church jury found him guilty of disobeying church law by officiating at the same-sex union of two North Carolina men. Creech is at the forefront in the fight to remove sanctions against same-sex marriages in established Protestant churches. He has called the opposition to holy unions for same-sex couples "spiritual violence." Rev. Creech's wife, Chris Weedy, and their daughter will join him at the Wedding.

At the 1993 March on Washington, Perry conducted a wedding for 2,600 couples, making history as the largest same-gender wedding demonstration and celebration. The Wedding will take place at the Lincoln Memorial. The event is open to all couples who wish to make a public statement of their vows, or who wish to renew their vows as part of this demonstration.

For a $25 registration fee, couples can also have their names registered in a permanent historical archive of "The Wedding: Now More Than Ever," and will receive a personalized certificate of participation, suitable for framing. There is no charge for those who wish to participate without registering for the archive and certificate.

For more information about "The Wedding," contact Maaza Mengtiste at (310) 360-8640, by fax at (310) 360-8680, by e-mail at ufmcchq@aol.com, or by writing 8704 Santa Monica Boulevard, 2nd Floor, West Hollywood, CA 90069.