Jewish group endorses same-sex marriage

BOSTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The major public policy voice of the Jewish community in greater Boston has voted overwhelmingly to back same-sex marriage.

The endorsement by the Jewish Community Relations Council, an umbrella organization representing 42 Jewish groups, is part of a growing effort by liberal religious voices to counter the strong opposition to same-sex marriage voiced by the state's Catholic bishops, the Boston Globe said Friday.

The bishops of the state's four Catholic dioceses planned to announce a major campaign to defeat same-sex marriage Friday.

Several Jewish organizations had already endorsed same-sex marriage, including the largest Jewish denomination in the country, the Union for Reform Judaism. But, same-sex marriage is opposed by leaders of Orthodox Judaism, a small minority of greater Boston's 250,000-member Jewish community.

Same-sex marriage has become a hotly contested issue in Massachusetts because of a ruling by the state Supreme Judicial Court in November declaring that barring two people of the same sex from marrying violates the state constitution.