EN GARDE
..I
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
Tuesday
afternoon,
junior Robert
Teel and
senior Evan
Cooley fence
to attract
more
students to
the Fencing
Club and
demonstrate
the sport.
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Measure 36: Students may decide outcome
Continued from page 1
measure that I thought precluded
that,” he said.
If the measure passes, Clark said it
would “effectively moot about three
fourths” of the current case before the
Supreme Court, although it would not
change the status of the marriage li
censes already issued to same-sex
couples.
Vetri said the amendment leaves
unresolved the question of the nearly
3,000 gay couples whose marriages
were upheld by the appeals court,
and the court will have to decide how
to rule on the validity of those exist
ing marriages.
“We have a really sort of bizarre sit
uation where the court could conceiv
ably say those 3,000 are declared
married but no other couples can get
married after (Measure) 36,” Vetri
said, adding that opponents will chal
lenge the measure on constitutional
grounds if it passes.
Some advocates also say same-sex
marriage, if Measure 36 doesn’t pass,
would open the door to other forms of
unions.
“The argument raised in the
Supreme Court is not that the sky is
going to fall and that we will be over
whelmed by polygamy ... ” Clark
said. “The question is: Where do you
draw the line legally?”
Clark said it won’t be legally feasi
ble to say that any two people can
marry but not allow three people to
marry or allow people who are closer
than cousins to marry.
“There can’t be a line,” he said.
“The reasoning that would apply to
same sex couples ... would apply to a
number of other concepts of mar
riage. ”
Vetri disagreed, calling it “crazy”
that same-sex marriage would open
the door for polygamy.
“By that theory, we should never
take a step forward on anything,” he
said. “There’s no logic behind that
slippery slope-type argument.”
Michael White, executive director
of the Defense of Marriage Coalition,
said the campaign for the measure is
not designed to reflect negatively on
any family arrangement, including
same-sex marriage, but is meant to
uphold the traditional definition of
marriage, which is key to supporting
children.
“The issue for us is that kids do
best and deserve the opportunity to
live in a household with both their
mother and their father and we think
marriage contributes to that,” he said.
White added that legalizing same
sex marriage will affect what children
learn about marriage in classrooms.
Elise Self, co-chairperson of the Eu
gene chapter of Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays, agreed
that families are important, but said
members of same-sex marriages can
be just as good as heterosexual par
ents.
“Lots of different family situations
can be good homes,” she said.
Self, who said she has a straight
son and a lesbian daughter, said she
worries about the message Measure
36 sends to children of existing same
sex relationships.
“They hear that not only are their
parents not OK and there’s something
wrong with their parents, but that
their household is doing wrong,” she
said. “It’s very painful to live in a soci
ety where you have to fight so hard
for your rights.”
Self also said the measure “will
hurt real Oregon families” by limiting
gay couples’ access to medical treat
ment and benefits, lifesaving medical
treatment decisions and inheritance
rights.
White said opinions vary among
campaign members about civil
unions for same-sex couples. He said
supporters are “sympathetic and un
derstanding” of people in same-sex
marriages that want benefits, such as
the right to hospital visitation, but
that supporters of same-sex marriage
tried to force change.
“If this thing had started in the leg
islature, let’s say as civil-union legis
lation, rather than in the courtrooms
trying to change marriage, our coali
tion might not exist,” he said.
Self added that the measure would
legitimize discrimination against
gays.
“I have lived in Oregon for over 30
years and I can’t believe something is
going into the constitution that would
treat my two children differently,” she
said. “This is our constitution, and it’s
meant to protect people, and putting
this in the constitution is discrimina
tion, no matter what they say.”
Spokeswoman for the No on 36
campaign Rebekah Kassell said peo
ple are looking to the Oregon measure
because it is a closer race than in oth
er states. She added that students,
many of whom she said support
same-sex marriage, will helped deter
mine the measure’s success.
“It may very well be young voters
who decide this issue in the election,”
she said.
However, in reference to the Yes on
36 campaign, White said weekly
polling has revealed that “support
from young people is surprisingly
strong. ”
“Young people may be a lot more
accepting of homosexuality, but so far
what we’re finding is that they still
appreciate the value of marriage,” he
said. “That’s something that’s been
pretty encouraging to us. ”
White said his organization is opti
mistic about the measure’s success
because “every Oregonian, regardless
of how bad their family life may have
been, had a mom and a dad, even if
they didn’t live with them or know
them.
“It’s that kind of personal stuff that
gets right to the core for a lot of peo
ple. They can’t imagine life any other
way,” he said.
parkerhowell@ daily emerald, com
Ape yon feeling a draft?
Army recruiters can't fill their quotas.
Re-enlistments are plummeting.
Soldiers are being forced to stay past
their contracted time.
Meanwhile, Iraq is a quagmire
that's only going to get worse.
With America's armed forces
already stretched to the
breaking point in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where are
tomorrow's troops going
to come from?
Oh yes, President Bush insists
he won't bring back the draft.
But remember: this is the same
president who swore that Iraq had
As college students today,
we ought to seriously
consider that question.
weapons of mass destruction. That
Saddam was linked to 9/11. And that
Iraqis would welcome us with open
arms. He was dead wrong every time.
With George Bush stubbornly
determined to go it alone, our allies
won't join us. American troops
will still be 90 percent of the
"coalition." And 90 percent of its
dead and wounded.
And the volunteer military will be
a casualty of war.
So unless you like the idea of
graduate school in Fallujah, we need
to pay careful attention to what our
president is saying, versus what it
really means.
Now do you feel that draft?
MoveOn.
Visit www.moveonstudentaction.org MoveOn Student Action is a project of the MoveOn.org Voter Fund and Click Back America. Studcntf^ fvr Wi'y
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