Thanks to Leonard B. Katzman for offering this guest post:

I read your recent Quartz column “The Case for Gay Marriage is Made in the Freedom of Religion." I thought you might be interested in the attached, which is the testimony I delivered before the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee last March arguing in favor of marriage equality. As a lawyer, for many years I testified as to the legal/civil rights arguments in favor. Last year I was persuaded to be part of a coalition of religious leaders and testify from a faith perspective on the topic. Among other reasons for the coalition, this was to be a counterpoint to the lobbying of the Catholic Church which holds great influence here in Rhode Island.

In essence, I explain that denying gay Jewish people legal civil marriage rights is a denial of the right of Jewish people to the free exercise of our religion. All testimony was limited to 3 minutes and so this is just about as much information as I could cram into my allotted time although I certainly could have gone on at length on this topic.