Law professor Howard Schweber became the first UW-Madison professor to take a public stance on gay marriage Tuesday night. UW-Madison's Federalist Society hosted a debate Tuesday on the gay marriage amendment between Schweber and Jordan Lorence, Senior Vice President of Office Strategic Initiatives for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian organization devoted to first amendment rights.
Schweber said he believed the ban should be voted against because he doesn't feel the state should regulate who is allowed to marry.
Child abusers, murderers, rapists, drug addicts, gamblers,"" Schweber said. ""To allow all of those people to marry and then to say that same sex couples may not be the ideal people to raise children...""
Lorence said he felt the ban should be passed because of possible future problems.
""It seems like if we say, ‘Okay, there's a constitutional right that says that same sex marriage is okay,' then right beyond that people will be saying, ‘Then what about group marriage? What about polygamy?"" Lorence said.
Lorence drew a connection between the current gay marriage ban and the ""Mormon polygamy controversy"" that took place in the 1800s. He stated that many of the same issues were faced and Congress saw no problem in prohibiting polygamy then.
Lorence also argued marriage does not really have benefits because the state often helps its citizen in terms of health problems.
""Marriage is a benefit,"" Schweber said. ""A household denied of those benefits, of those derogatives, is not as stable or as secure or as well off.""
Lorence maintained the ""best place to raise children is by the father and mother,"" while Schweber said same-sex couples deserve the opportunity to adopt and raise children just as much as heterosexual couples do.
""One thing you know about a child of homosexual parents is that the child is wanted,"" Schweber said.
Many students seemed to support Schweber in his opinion. While some said they were at the debate for more information, others were set in their opinion and just wanted to hear the other side of the issue.
""The professor definitely persuaded me more,"" said UW-Madison junior Poonam Patel. ""I thought his arguments were a lot more grounded in the constitution as opposed to his religious or social opinion.""
