Orthodox gay Rabbi Steve Greenberg spoke in support of civil unions in a recent lecture at Emory. Anushka Rahman covered the event for The Emory Wheel.

Greenberg talked about the differences between civil unions and religious marriage. He argued that marriage in religious contexts has no place in states that have ceased to define themselves along religious lines or institutions.
Calling civil marriage “an invention under the guise of the liberal state,” Greenberg implied that not recognizing gay marriage causes social unrest.
He used France as an example of a country in which civil unions are separated from religious marriage.
“[Civil marriage] is confusing,” Greenberg said. “It puts government in a position of choosing which religion is right.”
Greenberg acknowledged the right for religious institutions to refuse marriage rights to homosexuals. But he argued that religious marriage aids the creation of a hierarchy favoring men.
“Religious marriage is a myth that is recreated with every heterosexual marriage,” Greenberg said. “If the whole world disappeared, Adam and Steve could not restart it. What God is doing with gay people is teaching men and women to wear a crown without hierarchy,” he said.