Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral has announced that it is endorsing Proposition 3 (Constitutional right to marriage) and Proposition 6 (Elimination of involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons) on the November 2024 ballot.

Proposition 3 would remove a section of the California Constitution added by Prop. 8 (2008), which states that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. In its place, Proposition 3 would declare that the right to marry is a fundamental constitutional right. Although marriage equality has been shielded in California by later court rulings, Prop. 8 is capable of being brought back to life as long it is on the books. Beyond that, Prop. 8 is an affront to same-sex couples and everyone, Grace Cathedral included, who celebrates their marriages and welcomes them and their families into their community. Now is the time to permanently guarantee marriage equality in this state by passing Proposition 3.

Proposition 6 would amend the abolition of slavery clause in the California Constitution to remove a provision that allows involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime. The state prison system relies on this provision to compel inmates to work at whatever task the authorities choose. If Prop. 6 passes, the abolition clause would simply read: “Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited.” The new language would be added to prohibit prison authorities from disciplining an inmate for declining a work assignment and authorizing them to award credits to inmates who voluntarily accept a work assignment. Grace Cathedral has been calling on the state legislature since 2020 to put this measure on the ballot. Voters in seven other states have amended their constitutions in recent years to eliminate the involuntary servitude exception. Prop. 6 gives California voters an opportunity to join the movement. We are proud to endorse Proposition 6 as well as Proposition 3.

Information about these and other ballot measures is available in the official California Voter Information Guide: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/. The Guide will be mailed to registered voters in September. Vote-by-mail ballots will be mailed to registered voters on or before October 7, 2024. Grace Cathedral encourages all eligible persons to register and vote.

Statement Endorsing Prop. 3 and Prop. 6

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, Dean of Grace Cathedral, has issued the following statement to accompany the Cathedral’s endorsement of Proposition 3 and Proposition 6:

“Words matter. Words can be hurtful; they can heal as well. Today there is language in the California Constitution that allows forced labor in state prisons and denies some people the right to marry the person they love. The words are painful just to read, and they harm not only the people they are directed toward but also the moral character of California society. Proposition 3 and Proposition 6 give the voters an opportunity to make amends by removing these words from the state constitution. I want to explain why Grace Cathedral believes it is time to do so. Grace Cathedral is part of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. For this reason, we base our endorsement of Proposition 3 and Proposition 6 position not on merely political considerations but on religious conviction, our church’s ethical teachings, and personal experience.

Grace Cathedral has performed the Rite of Holy Matrimony in the Episcopal Church for same-sex couples ever since it became possible for us to do so in conformity with the laws of this state and the canons of the church. Although I am sure that our worshipping community believes that the right to marry is a civil right, our support for Proposition 3 flows from the conviction that Jesus’ message of radical inclusion and abounding love embraces all relationships. It is a joy for me and Grace Cathedral’s other clergy to celebrate and bless same-sex marriages and witness these couples, their families and children going on to lead happy, secure, and productive lives enriched by their faith and community. I wish everyone could experience what we see and know. Jesus came into the world so that everyone would understand that love is at the center of all creation. Because of this, we invoke his name when people take the extraordinary step of committing their lives to each other in the presence of God. God is the one who created the institution of marriage and gathers the company of friends and family whose love helps to sustain our relationships. Grace supports Prop. 3 because it guarantees that same-sex couples will not be denied the right to marry under the law, and also because it ensures that we can freely and fully exercise our religious right to speak the words that consecrate their marriages in the church.

Regarding Proposition 6, it is important to remember where the words “involuntary servitude” come from. Involuntary servitude is a reduced form of chattel slavery. A person in this status is not legally the property of another, but under the law and through physical force, they are in the same unfree conditions as a slave. Serfdom, peonage, sex trafficking, people with debts to a plantation owner that they can never discharge – this is what involuntary servitude means. Fabricated criminal charges leading to forced labor in prisons and work farms were a tool of the Jim Crow era in our history. Proposition 6 was included in the California Reparations Commission’s legislative recommendations. We teach schoolchildren that the 13^th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. Are we honest in explaining that an exception to this rule has been made for prisoners? I hope that when Proposition 6 passes, we will be able to share the good news that another step has been taken toward the absolute abolition of slavery. The words of history matter.

The incarcerated people I’ve encountered in my experience want to work; they recognize labor as an activity that dignifies human life. California is already moving away from a punitive model to rehabilitation and community reintegration. Effective January 1, 2024, the California Penal Code declares that the simple fact of incarceration is enough to satisfy the punishment purposes of sentencing. From now on, the stated purpose of an inmate’s period of incarceration is rehabilitation and reentry, not further punishment. In the words of the legislation, “Effective rehabilitation increases public safety and builds stronger communities. In order to achieve these goals, it is essential that incarcerated people are able to live with dignity, are treated humanely, are able to maintain and build strong family and community connections, and have access to varied, high-quality educational and rehabilitative programs.” In the same vein, the Governor signed a bill in July 2024 that provides that if Prop. 6 passes, prisons will be required to develop a voluntary work program for inmates with written rules and regulations for work and programming assignments, including the wages for work performed. It is no longer necessary to keep the language in the state constitution authorizing forced labor in prisons to achieve the goals of the criminal justice system. While passing Prop. 6 will not put the question of what is fair and appropriate compensation to rest, it is another important step in transforming California’s approach to incarceration.

Both Proposition 3 and Proposition 6 require a popular vote because they would amend the California Constitution. We are responsible for taking cruel and unnecessary words out of the Constitution, whether or not we were responsible for them in the first place. Amending the words of the Constitution can be a healing moment. Slavery and involuntary servitude are America’s original sin. Denying same-sex marriage debases the institution of marriage. We have all had the personal experience of feeling entrapped by things we have said or done. We all have regrets about what we have not said or done. Now we can make things right. Prop. 3 safeguards the true meaning of marriage as understood by the Episcopal Church. Prop. 6 puts into effect the church’s teaching that everyone, regardless of present status or condition, has dignity, worth, and the potential to amend their ways.

Words really do matter. California voters have an opportunity to bring the language in the state constitution in line with their values and beliefs. On behalf of Grace Cathedral and our worshipping community, I encourage you to vote yes on Proposition 3 and Proposition 6.

Malcolm Clemens Young

Dean, Grace Cathedral,
San Francisco, CA