History professor makes a case for gay marriage
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2010, Thursday
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A YALE professor testifying in a case challenging California's voter-approved same-sex marriage ban told a United States court that a 2008 campaign for the ban played on stereotypes historically used to portray "homosexuals as perverts who pray on young children, out to entice straight people into sick behavior."
George Chauncey, a historian who specializes in the subject of 20th-century gay life, was the second expert witness to appear for two couples unable to marry because of California's gay marriage ban. Their lawsuit has led to the first federal trial to decide the constitutionality of laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman.
After viewing several television commercials produced by the campaign's sponsors, Chauncey said on Tuesday that images and language suggesting the ballot initiative was needed to "protect children" were reminiscent of earlier efforts to "demonize" gays, ranging from police raids on gay bars during the 1950s to campaigns to rid schools of gay teachers in the 1970s.
"You have a pretty strong echo of this idea that simple exposure to gay people and their relationships is somehow going to lead a whole generation of young kids to become gay," Chauncey said.
"The underlying message here is something about the undesirability of homosexuals, that we don't want our children to become this way."
Chauncey's views were introduced to help persuade Chief US Judge Vaughn Walker, who is hearing the case without a jury, that the California measure unlawfully discriminates against gays because it was based on an underlying hatred or moral disapproval and serves no legitimate public aim.
Earlier, another history professor, Nancy Cott of Harvard University, argued that the institution of marriage had evolved dramatically over time as gender roles had changed.
Cott disputed a statement by a defense lawyer that states had a compelling interest to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples for the sake of procreation. She said that as traditional gender roles and the purposes of marriage had changed, the reasons to bar same-sex couples from marrying had gone away.
On the first day of the case, the court heard Kristin Perry, 45, and her partner, Sandra Stier, 47, of Berkeley, and a gay couple from Burbank, Paul Katami, 37, and Jeffrey Zarrillo, give intimate accounts of how being unable to wed affected their lives.
George Chauncey, a historian who specializes in the subject of 20th-century gay life, was the second expert witness to appear for two couples unable to marry because of California's gay marriage ban. Their lawsuit has led to the first federal trial to decide the constitutionality of laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman.
After viewing several television commercials produced by the campaign's sponsors, Chauncey said on Tuesday that images and language suggesting the ballot initiative was needed to "protect children" were reminiscent of earlier efforts to "demonize" gays, ranging from police raids on gay bars during the 1950s to campaigns to rid schools of gay teachers in the 1970s.
"You have a pretty strong echo of this idea that simple exposure to gay people and their relationships is somehow going to lead a whole generation of young kids to become gay," Chauncey said.
"The underlying message here is something about the undesirability of homosexuals, that we don't want our children to become this way."
Chauncey's views were introduced to help persuade Chief US Judge Vaughn Walker, who is hearing the case without a jury, that the California measure unlawfully discriminates against gays because it was based on an underlying hatred or moral disapproval and serves no legitimate public aim.
Earlier, another history professor, Nancy Cott of Harvard University, argued that the institution of marriage had evolved dramatically over time as gender roles had changed.
Cott disputed a statement by a defense lawyer that states had a compelling interest to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples for the sake of procreation. She said that as traditional gender roles and the purposes of marriage had changed, the reasons to bar same-sex couples from marrying had gone away.
On the first day of the case, the court heard Kristin Perry, 45, and her partner, Sandra Stier, 47, of Berkeley, and a gay couple from Burbank, Paul Katami, 37, and Jeffrey Zarrillo, give intimate accounts of how being unable to wed affected their lives.
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