The same sex marriage forum at the Cal High theatre on May 16 was one of the first controversial public debates being hosted by The Liberty Project, a non school sponsored organization, founded by juniors J.T. Garwood and Mohammed Syed.
The packed event featured two speakers from both sides of the gay marriage debate. Opposing speakers included junior Tommy Sidebottom, a home-schooled student and Dougherty Valley High junior Luke Martin.
The supporting speakers included sophomore Daniel Cox and junior Melika Panbehchi, both from Cal.
The conference’s main motive was to raise student voices on same sex marriage.
“I hope I meet a lot of open minded people and I want to learn other people’s opinions,” said freshman Alex Duran, who attended the forum.
The Liberty Project was founded with the purpose of raising a community of students concerned with taking political action and promoting current day issues.
“Everyone will be able to vote soon, and I don’t want students to just read Twitter, or get opinions from parents,” said Garwood. “It’s an active student forum (Liberty Project), and it encourages people to think and form opinions.”
Sidebottom opened last month’s forum by discussing the sociological and scientific effects of gay marriage. He mentioned that Sweden, one of the first countries to legalize gay marriage, had higher divorce rates after allowing same sex couples to get married.
He also mentioned the health of society, and claimed that homosexual behavior can increase the spread of HIV.
The second speaker, Cox, argued that America was based on religious equality. By not legalizing gay marriage, he believed that it broke the building blocks of the country.
Cox went on to say that the marriage ceremony had existed for a long time, and was not a western or a Christian institution, so banning of same sex marriage was invalid.
Cox said 99.9 percent of gay people who go through gay conversion couldn’t change their sexual orientation. But when a member of the audience challenged if he had evidence to back up his argument, Cox was unable to find his sources because he said he had researched it over a year ago.
The third speaker, Martin, is opposed to gay marriage because it conflicts with his faith as a Christian. He was at the forum night to clear up misconceptions about why Christianity does not support gay marriage.
Quoting passages from Leviticus and Corinthians, he supported his argument by saying that homosexuality is a sin, just like any other sin such as adultery, so as a Christian he is against it. But he still wanted to express that in his faith, he is called to love anybody regardless of what sin they commit or what their sexuality is.
“I expressed my faith in Jesus and I want people to know the fulfillment and satisfaction they can have in God,” said Martin.
The last speaker was Panbehchi, an advocate and member of the Gay Straight Alliance club on campus. She voiced her view on how not allowing gay couples to be married was segregation.
“I want other people to be able to practice their beliefs and have other people live the way that they want to live,” said Panbehchi.
After all speakers presented their arguments, the floor was open for others to speak, including one student who swore against the Bible’s relevance on the subject.
“I’m very religious,” said junior Rachel Rodrigue, who is neutral on gay marriage. “I came to get an opinion. I have more facts to back me up when I debate with someone [on gay marriage].”
Junior Alec Tacconi who is against gay marriage goes to the same church as Martin and Sidebottom.
“I loved hearing the psychological argument,” said Tacconi, “I don’t see it [gay marriage] affecting me in the long run, but I do see it [gay marriage] in a wider range [on facts for and against gay marriage].”
Principal Mark Corti attended the forum and said he was impressed by the respectful atmosphere of the Liberty Project. He said the speakers were articulate, and the questions from the audience were thought provoking.
