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Amos Lassen wrote on 12/27/2011:

“Saints and Sinners”

Gay Marriage in 2004

Amos Lassen

In 2004, gay marriage was on its way to becoming a major issue when people began to talk about it openly. Edward DeBonis and Vincent Maniscalco had been partners and had lived together for sevrn years in an accepting community in New York City. They decided to get married but because they are both practicing Roman Catholics they decided they wanted to get married within the Holy Sacrament of Marriage. They said they would settle for nothing less. They requested “The New York Times” to announce their wedding in the “Styles” section and this caused a controversy. There were several questions to be considered in publishing a Catholic wedding announcement—if a gay priest performs the ceremony, is he indeed a priest?; can a gay union be called a wedding?; can a gay couple still be considered Catholics?. Today we look at these issues as the United States is poised and in some states ready to grant gays the right to marry. “Saints and Sinners” takes a careful look at the political, social and religious issues that surround gay marriage as well as the effect such marriage will have on America.
This documentary does not focus on the question of the acceptance of gay marriage. It, instead, looks at how Catholic men want marriage in accordance with their religion’s doctrine and dogma. The movie is very real and even though it is almost five years old, it is still very timely. This is a moving story of two men who love each other very much and how they fight for equal rights in a religious arena. They want their relationship on their terms. We have here a powerful argument for the legalization of marriage as well as for religious acceptance.
Abigail Honor gives us a very honest film as the film tries to make sense out of shock and outrage. The only problem I found here is that the film seems to edging for a fight that never happens. I kept waiting for an official from the Church to be interviewed and have something to say but that never happened—there was no debate. What we see instead is a very regular kind of preparation for marriage—the couple choosing their outfits and the discomfort of some of Maniscalco’s traditional relatives who chose not to come to the ceremony. This could have been so powerful but somehow it missed the chance. However, we do get background and a very nice wedding video.