1/26/2004

Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban bill causes controversy among students

Katie Hilbert
Daily Kent Stater

The same-sex marriage bill that passed Wednesday in the Ohio Senate has drawn different responses from Kent State students.

Angela Wicks, president of PRIDE!Kent, said she cried when she heard about the bill.

“I don’t usually cry over something, but I cried because it was upsetting to me to basically be told I don’t have a place here in my state,” she said. “Being treated as a second-class citizen is basically like how I felt.”

The bill, if signed by Gov. Bob Taft, would ban same-sex marriages and prohibit state employees — including university employees — from getting domestic partner benefits.

President Carol Cartwright said she didn’t want to comment on the bill unless it becomes law.

However, she said she has read, “comments from corporations, expressing concerns that the legislation could have a chilly effect on the ability to recruit and retain.”

Wicks said she believes the bill will draw people away from Ohio. She said it sends a message to same-sex couples that says, “There’s no place for you here anymore.”

But not all students oppose the potential ban.

Sophomore nursing major Elizabeth Burke said she does not think same-sex marriages should be allowed.

“The way marriage is supposed to be is with a man and a woman,” she said. “When you have same-sex marriages, I think that creates a lot of problems as far as like how a family is supposed to operate in our society.”

Burke said she feels this way is because of her religious beliefs.

“It’s a tough issue, but my personal beliefs are that I don’t think it should be allowed,” she said.

Doug Sheldon, junior justice studies major, said he thinks people who oppose the bill are afraid.

“It’s nothing but fear,” he said. “It’s fundamentalist Christian fear.”

Wicks said people defend the bill by saying they are trying to protect the sanctity and traditional values of marriage.

“Who are these people to say what love is and then to make a law?” she said. “They’re making a law defining love as strictly between a man and a woman.

“That’s wrong. Everyone should have the opportunity to get married to who they love.”

Sheldon also said he thought the government should not decide whether or not homosexuals can marry.

“Just because someone has a different sexual preference than the legislators and the government, why should that have any effect on whether or not they can be in love and get married?” he said. “They’re humans too. What they do in the privacy of their own bedroom is not the business of the United States government.”

But not all students feel the government is getting involved where it shouldn’t.

Tony Cox, president of College Republicans, said he is in favor of the bill.

“I’m proud of President Bush for having the courage to stand up for it,” he said. “He’s a man who believes that family is the backbone of our society, and the traditional family structure is a sacred thing, and the government should treat it as such.”

Cox said the bill will stir up a great deal of controversy.

And it appears that controversy over the bill already has developed at the university between students who oppose it and students who support it.

“It’s not hurting anyone,” Sheldon said. “I just don’t understand what the big deal is.”

E-mail: khilbert@kent.edu