Same-sex couples strolling down Locust Walk hand in hand is an increasingly common sight at Penn these days.
Which is why PennForum, a group that organizes intellectual discussions on campus, held a debate on the legalization of gay marriages Thursday night, bringing together students and faculty from Penn and Drexel University.
Four panelists stirred up the 70-member audience in Logan Hall with their dialogue on the sanctity of marriage and its legal implications.
"The Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that the state cannot place direct legal obstacles in the path of a person's marriage unless supported by sufficiently important state interest," said panelist Dan Fishback, a College junior.
Fishback, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, argued that one of the benefits of same-sex marriages is limiting the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Agreeing with Fishback, panelist Lauren Bialystok, a College senior, called the institution of marriage a legal and social necessity.
"Marriage is a vital right," said Bialystok, also a DP columnist. "Only when legally married can a gay [partner] make decisions on behalf of a loved one."
While many asserted that marriage is a malleable institution -- constantly flexing with the times to include interracial couples and other societal changes -- panelist Ryan Fagan, a Wharton sophomore, disagreed with gay marriage.
"The definition of marriage changes, sanctity of marriage will be a casualty," said Fagan, an editor at the Wharton undergraduate commentary First Call.
Similarly, panelist Jeff Maust, a junior at Drexel University, said he felt that gay marriages taint the entire institution.
"As a Christian, I am not against homosexual people," said Maust, an active member of the Drexel Christian Fellowship. "I love them like anyone else. God created woman for man as complements. By allowing same sex marriage, you would further degrade the institution."
But the dialogue did not delve further into religious debate.
"We can't use religion as the basis of law," Fishback said. "If we do that we are no better than the Taliban."
Fagan added that heterosexual marriages are "the ideal," raising questions as to who and what defines such a standard.
Organizers felt the interactive discussion exemplified PennForum's mission to increase the awareness of issues that impact lives on campus.
"People could learn a lot from both sides," said PennForum's Co-Sponsorship Coordinator Jeanne Zelnick, a College senior. "That's the most important part of the discussion."
