Traveling pair sound off in 'civilized' gay marriage debate

John Corvino and Glenn Stanton don't agree on a lot.\nBut that's exactly what their friendship is based on. Stanton is a consultant for the Bush administration on fatherhood issues and a public policy analyst at Focus on the Family, a Christian organization, and Corvino is a professor at Wayne State University and a writer for the Independent Gay Forum. They spend their time traveling together with the purpose of holding civilized, educated debates to give students and audience members perspective on the issue of gay marriage. The two debated the issue in a program called "Gay Marriage: A Civil Debate" for about two hours Tuesday night in the Indiana Memorial Union.\n"People are sometimes surprised when I call Glenn my friend," said Corvino, who presented the case in support of same sex marriage. "We differ sharply on certain issues, but one thing that we share is a commitment to reasoned, productive dialogue."\nThe two presented their cases before a question-and-answer session. Corvino spent a large portion of his time emphasizing that the legalization of gay marriage would not affect heterosexual relationships.\n"It's not as if there is a limited number of marriage licenses so that once they're gone, they're gone, and there's not enough left for the straight people," he said.\nStanton, who argued against same-sex marriage, said legalization of same-sex marriages would not be in the best interest of children. He stressed his belief that children should be the main consideration in legislation on the subject.\n"Same-sex marriage is a case made by adults for adults," Stanton said. "It is not a case made for children."\nBoth speakers cited different studies about the effects of parental relationships on children. Stanton said the studies he used reveal that an environment in which both biological parents raise the child together is most suitable. \nStanton reminded audience members that a child raised in a home with homosexual parents could not possibly be living with both biological parents. Corvino said his studies showed that children in either situation had the same advantages.\nCorvino pointed out that current laws do not require heterosexual couples to prove that they would make good parents before granting them a marriage license. In fact, Corvino said, states regularly grant licenses to couples who they know will be bad parents.\n"What kind of society will recognize the 14-hour Vegas thing of Britney Spears but not recognize the relationship of John and Brian?" he asked.\nBut the debate itself is not about families or children, Stanton said -- it's an issue of humanity. He said all through history, every society has recognized marriage, whether monogamous or polygamous, as uniting men with women. Stanton said members of society need to be cautious about trying to change those "societal norms."\n"I think that is the arrogance of modernism," he said. "I think that's chronological snobbery to think that we can just come along and change that."\nRegardless of their opinions, many audience members said they appreciated hearing both sides of the issue.\n"As a homosexual male, I thought it was interesting to hear both sides," said junior Joshua Mock. "But it did not change my view -- that homosexual marriage should be legal."\nFreshman Loren Gurman also said he enjoyed hearing both cases and commended both speakers for their skills.\n"I very much enjoyed the debate," Gurman said. "I would say anyone, regardless of what side they support, doubtlessly could have an appreciation for their wonderful skills of \ndebate"