A top Vatican representative and Roman Catholic Archbishop is reaching out to form a coalition with other religions and has called on them to join the Vatican in a worldwide holy war against same-sex marriage, claiming that proliferation of equality “is not a good thing for society,” and will lead to “confusion.”

“I wonder if we shouldn’t ask for and look for more support among other Christian confessions and indeed, persons of other faiths,” Archbishop Antonio Mennini, who represents Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican in Great Britain, said in an address to Catholic bishops from England and Wales.

“It seems to me that, concerning the institution of marriage, and indeed the sanctity of human life, we have much in common with the position of the Jewish community, the Chief Rabbi and many of the more significant representatives of Islam,” Mennini added.

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Pink News reports that in the UK, “Archbishop Peter Smith said that while there has been no ‘formal’ contact with Jewish groups to form what he called a united front on the subject of marriage,‘we will work with anyone who agrees with us that to redefine marriage is not a good thing for society and will lead to confusion’.”

A new analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data has found that same-sex couples are more likely to be interracial or inter-ethnic compared to their heterosexual counterparts.

Analyzed by the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, "Same-Sex Couples In Census 2010: Race And Ethnicity" found that 20.6 percent, or more than one in five same-sex couples, were interracial or inter-ethnic, compared with 18.3 percent of straight unmarried couples, and 9.5 percent of straight married couples.

Among the study's other interesting findings: those same-sex couples which included a racial or ethnic minority were also more likely to be raising children, and the number of same-sex couple-led households increased at a faster rate between 2000 and 2010 compared to that of married or unmarried heterosexual households.

"This is our first 2010 glimpse of the racial and ethnic compositions of U.S. households headed by couples, including same-sex couples, Gary Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar at UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, said in an email statement. "The new Census data help provide a fuller picture of the diversity within the LGBT community."

Black Christians are portrayed as an anti-gay bloc, but they are not static.

Given these conversations, a number of black Christians openly support the full and equal protection of all citizens, including gays and lesbians. It is not such a leap, when churches emphasize their commitment to social justice (explicit in the disputes over the term “civil rights”) and when activists focus on specific legal “privileges” like hospital visitation rights, inheritance, and nondiscrimination in employment and housing.

Second, in the realm of theology, we see an evolving understanding of the relationship between religious beliefs and politics. That problematic old distinction of race vs. sexuality obviously falls short of the notion that same-gender-loving persons might be created in the image of God, just as their heterosexual brothers and sisters are.

To be clear, there are black churches — a small minority, as is also the case across lines of race and ethnicity — that endorse this belief, based on a Gospel that affirms everyone unconditionally and unequivocally. But even among those Christians whose theology embraces gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, there is an array of postures on issues like same-sex marriage. One on hand, some clergy now affirm marriage equality even while vociferously defending a Bible-informed view of homosexuality as sin. On the other hand, some religious leaders publicly insist that special efforts must be made to protect the most vulnerable in our society, through measures like anti-bullying campaigns and hate-crime legislation. The basic logic here is that churches, as they work out their theologies — say, a definition of “sin” adequate for the 21st century — should not have the final say in matters of citizenship and equal rights.

The growing momentum of marriage equality suggests that gender and sexuality norms are changing dramatically and opening space for new conversations. Perhaps these developments will force American society, including its churches, to mature in deliberations concerning sexual difference — a maturity we have not yet seen in discussions of race.

Four Former DNC Chairs Endorse Marriage Equality In Democratic Platform

WASHINGTON -- Four former chairs of the Democratic National Committee called on the party on Wednesday to embrace marriage equality in the 2012 Democratic platform.

"We are proud that the Democratic Party fights for working families, economic justice, and equal opportunity for all," said Howard Dean, Donald Fowler, Steve Grossman and David Wilhelm in a joint statement. "Times change but our principles must always remain strong. That is why, as former chairs of the Democratic National Committee, we stand with Freedom to Marry, 22 Democratic senators, Leader Nancy Pelosi, and more than 35,000 Americans in urging the Party to include a freedom to marry plank in the platform that is ratified at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this September."

Dean, the former governor of Vermont, served as DNC chair from 2005 to 2009. Massachusetts Treasurer Steve Grossman led the organization from 1997 to 1999. Fowler was South Carolina state party executive director and CEO of the DNC convention in Atlanta in 1988 and was DNC chair from 1995 to 1997. Wilhelm ran the day-to-day operations of the 1992 Clinton-Gore presidential campaign and was DNC chair from 1993 to 1994.

The current DNC chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.), has not yet said she supports adding same-sex marriage to the platform.