This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on two cases concerning same-sex marriage. Accordingly, the controversial topic has been on the minds of many Americans. Tuesday’s hearing questioned the constitutionality of an amendment to the California constitution—Proposition 8—that defines marriage as between one man and one woman and allows only heterosexual marriages to be recognized in the state. Wednesday’s hearing concerned the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law signed by former president Bill Clinton that restricts federal marriage benefits to heterosexual couples and permits states to ignore same-sex marriages from other states. The justices are set to make their rulings around the end of June. In light of these hearings, The Chronicle spoke with students and discussed their opinions on the topic.
“I support [same-sex marriage] wholeheartedly. I can’t imagine anyone not being united with one that they love for the rest of their life.”
—sophomore Andrew Hall
“I’m kind of gay, so...”
—senior Rob Valdovinos
“[The hearings] are more of a question of acceptance and understanding than it is of religion or politics.”
—freshman Eleanor Mehlenbacher
“I believe that there is no convincing jurisprudence for the Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8, a democratically passed voter initiative, on constitutional grounds. It is not the prerogative of the Supreme Court to mandate recognition of gay marriage for all 50 states of the union. Doing so jeopardizes the integrity of our democratic process. The Supreme Court is simply not an arbiter of morality.”
—freshman Jonathan Zhao, columnist for The Chronicle
“I think this is a pretty strict case of following the 14th Amendment—guaranteeing equal rights for everyone—so I don’t see any reason to regulate [marriage]. I don’t see why the government has the right to regulate it.”
—freshman Jared Schwartz
“I think it’s an issue of equal rights for everyone. It doesn’t make sense to deprive rights from people. And in most cases, it’s not going to ruin the sanctity of any marriage I would have.”
—freshman Lizzy Kieffer
“People make these remarks about ‘Well, one of the problems is that homosexual love affairs are impertinent, therefore marriage is not very stable.’ But if you look at the number of divorces among heterosexual couples, I don’t see any real difference.”
—Ronald Witt, professor emeritus of history
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