Should gay couples be allowed to marry?
Two prominent members of the Salt Lake City community debated Tuesday whether homosexual couples should have the right to enter into a matrimonial union in Utah.
The Hinckley Institute of Politics hosted the forum Out of the Closet: A Candid Behind-the-Scenes Dialogue on Gay Rights Oct. 28 in OSH.
Stephen C. Clark and Paul T. Mero, two Salt Lake residents with opposing opinions about gay rights, have been disputing gay rights since 2003. The forum came at a time when the constitutionality of gay marriage is up for vote with California’s Proposition 8, which has also garnered significant attention in Utah. The three-part series addressed controversial issues, such as sexual orientation, religion, hate crimes and civil laws.
Mero, president of The Sutherland Institute, said if homosexual individuals were allowed to wed, it would destroy the foundation of marriage. If it starts with homosexual couples, then where does it end, he said.
“If Stephen and his partner can go get married on the basis of love, then just about anyone should be able to get married, even if its a brother and sister who get sterilized,” Mero said. “If the state is going to have to recognize that individual choice, then why shouldn’t that choice be allowed for any two consenting adults, or …anything like inanimate objects or a dog?”
Mero said he is a heterosexual male who has been married for 32 years.
However, Clark, an attorney for the Salt Lake City law firm Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough PC, said as marriage equality spreads, same sex couples will enter the union of marriage for the same reasons as heterosexual couples. He feels that same-sex couples will eventually be able to participate fully in their families and communities to provide a nurturing environment for their children.
Clark said to suggest otherwise dehumanizes gay people and invokes fear.
“No one I know who advocates for marriage equality does so because they believe it is just about love,” he said.
Clark said he is gay and in a long-term committed relationship with a man.
Pedro Simpson, a junior in political science, said he is heterosexual and felt that gay rights are civil and state issues, not moral or religious ones.
“In a religious setting, for a church to take a standing (on moral grounds) is fine, and I believe they should have a right to hold those beliefs within their organization and determine membership or participation in such a way,” Simpson said. “But as a state, because it is a civil institution, the laws have to be equal.”
Melanie Bushnell, a senior in film studies, said she is a lesbian and felt that even though the discussion represented both sides of the argument, there needed to be a stronger liberal viewpoint to enhance the discussion.
Bushnell felt that both of the panel members thought engaging in homosexual activity was a choice, which she said bothered her.
“I really don’t feel that it is a choice for me,” Bushnell said. “I don’t see why it would matter if it is a man or a woman or two people of the same sex.”
Tyler CobbStephen Clark, former legal director for the ACLU of Utah, and Paul Mero the president of The Sutherland Institute talked about their email conversation called Out of The Closet during a Radio West broadcast in the Hinckley Caucus Room.