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Prop. 8 debaters square off at Cal State
| Friday, Oct 10 2008 1:07 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Oct 10 2008 8:10 AM
Debate over Proposition 8 filled Cal State’s Multipurpose Room with passionate supporters and opponents Thursday night.
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Sylvia Simms, a Proposition 8 opponent, found herself working hard to control her emotions as she listened to supporter Ken Mettler's arguments during the debate at CSUB Thursday night. She was visibly at odds with virtually all of Mettler's comments.
CSUB professor Dr. Anne Duran reacts to a big ovation she got during her comments when she announced that she is straight and opposed to Proposition 8. At right is Whitney Weddell, one of the area's most prominent gay rights activists, who was also on the debate panel.
Cheers were stronger for opponents of the ban on same-sex marriage at the event, hosted by the campus gay, lesbian and transgender community group.
Prop. 8 supporters Marylee Shrider and Ken Mettler raised the call for protecting “traditional” marriage.
Prop. 8 opponents Anne Duran and Whitney Weddell called for equality for homosexual couples.
Shrider, a contributing columnist for The Californian, strode into the center of the issue in her opening statements saying same sex couples will not be harmed if Prop. 8 passes, but traditional families will be.
“You say nothing will change,” Weddell, a local gay activist, told Shrider. “I lose my marriage. Mine means as much to me as it does to you.”
Shrider was asked by an audience member if she would give up her marriage license for a domestic partnership.
“No,” she said.
The crowd groaned in protest.
“Marriage is between a man and a woman. I’m married to a man. Why should I do that,” she said.
Shrider said the impact on children and the faith community of the legalization of gay marriage will be huge.
“Are we going to be able to keep our faith and practice our faith (when same sex marriage is legal)?” asked Shrider.
She and Mettler argued that churches, pastors and religious individuals would have to compromise their beliefs or be sued as bigots.
Anne Duran, a professor of psychology at Cal State, argued that studies have determined children’s sexual orientation and self-image is not damaged by having same-sex parents.
She is married to a man, she told the crowd, but she has five adopted children, one of whom is gay.
“What that will mean is my boy will never have a socially recognized relationship with a person he loves,” Duran said.
She countered an argument from Shrider and Mettler that the point of marriage is procreation.
“If everyone was in a homosexual marriage we’d cease to exist,” Mettler said.
“If marriage is for procreation, then what we should do logically is test people’s fertility before they get a marriage license,” Duran quipped.
Questions from the audience came hard and fast at Mettler and Shrider about their faith.
Susanne Langham came to the microphone undecided about how she will vote on Nov. 4. She left the meeting undecided.
She said the passion in the room and the rhetoric didn’t always help her find the kind of thoughtful discourse she needed to make up her mind. But she was glad she attended.
Weddell also expressed pride in being able to sit on the dais with people she disagrees with and have the discussion.
“I would hope that future generations would look back and honor the commitment to democracy no matter which side of the debate we were on,” Weddell said.