Can a same-sex couple get married at the Midwest Buddhist Temple?
Yes. It is not an issue. We certainly encourage all people who want to be married to have a ceremony at the temple.
The Midwest Buddhist Temple and the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) have “allowed” same-sex weddings for a long time. From the 1950s to the present, there have been wedding ceremonies of same-sex couples even when same-sex marriages were not legal. For the most part, these early same-sex weddings were only ceremonies in the Buddhist tradition (and were not legal marriages), and they were kept quiet and private.
The BCA Ministers Association went on record and passed a resolution in support of gay marriage in 1998. As gay marriage has become legal in some states, the number of same-sex marriages has increased. Perhaps, the most publicized gay marriage held at BCA Temple was at the Los Angeles Betsuin with George Takei and Brad Altman.