SSM DEBATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: From the University of Wisconsin Badger Herald

...Jonathan Rauch, author of "Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights and Good for America," spoke on behalf of same-sex-marriage proponents. He argued prohibiting gays from marriage excludes them from fully participating in the cultural norm of adulthood that links sex, love and commitment into a formal, societal institution.

"My name is Jonathan Rauch, and it is illegal for me to marry anyone I love," he said, telling the audience it is a "scalding deprivation" for him, and for the nine to 15 million other gay Americans, to be kept from marrying. ...

Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, presented the other side of the debate.

"Marriage is about giving children mothers and fathers," she said. "This is not about homosexuality. This is about marriage."

In particular, she focused on the prevalence of "fatherlessness" as a reason why alternative families in any form are detrimental to families and children.

"I think lesbian mothers can be very good mothers," Gallagher said. "I don't think they can be fathers for their children."

Although she acknowledged the high regard many gay couples have for marriage and family, Gallagher said society must keep traditional marriage intact because it serves as the basic social institution, linking mothers and fathers together for the sake of their children. ...

Rauch, however, argued that allowing same-sex couples, several thousand of which are parents, to marry could never be construed as an attack on marriage.

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