As the nation grapples with last week's landmark ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court legalizing gay marriage, Bible scholars say religion will continue as a key factor in the debate.
Even though many gay-rights advocates are pushing only for civil marriage and its legal benefits, the issue will be hard to separate from the nation's churches, which perform the majority of marriage ceremonies, said Bernadette Brooten, a Christian-studies expert at Brandeis University.
''The general public thinks sexuality and marriage is an area where you turn to religion for guidance,'' said Brooten, who is also director of the Brandeis Feminist Sexual Ethics Project. ''In a sense, it's the one remaining areasthat the public turns to the church for moral guidance.''
Nearly 8,500 religious scholars gathered in Atlanta this week for the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature.
Homosexuality in religion figured prominently in the conference's lecture sessions, with presentations devoted to such topics as religious issues for lesbian feminists, as well as religious activism for gays, bisexuals and transgender persons.
Brooten said advocates and opponents of gay marriages will use religion in their arguments as the Massachusetts legislature spends the next six months crafting its response to the state high court's ruling.
She noted gay marriage opponents have strong Biblical support for their arguments, particularly in the books of Leviticus and Romans, which condemn gay sex as an abomination.
However, other scholars point out that Bible passages have been used to deny civil rights to groups in the past, but society in various countries evolved other ways of viewing those issues.
''We have overcome the prejudice in the text and the use of the Bible to support slavery, and I think we have learned almost not to use the Bible to subordinate women,'' said Antoinette Wire, a New Testament expert at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. ''Maybe this is our next step, to not make life impossible for people who are homosexual.''
Richard Horsley, a New Testament expert from the University of Massachusetts, said the marriage ruling is sure to present issues for churches as more gay families seek inclusion in religious communities.
''I have friends, a male couple, who have adopted children, and they don't feel at home in the Catholic church, but they'd like to be,'' Horsley said. ''These relationships are nothing new. They have been going on forever, they were just in the closet. It's just going to be extremely difficult for churches to deal with.''
The Massachusetts legislature has until the end of May to respond to the ruling.