Boalt Hall Discussion Fleshes Out Same-Sex Marriage Battle

UC Berkeley students, law professors and gay rights activists assessed the progress of same-sex marriage at a commemorative lecture at Boalt Hall School of Law yesterday.

Panelists who spoke at "Sex, Gender and Social Justice" examined the course of the fight for same-sex marriage that has gained momentum in the last year.

"Everyday, hearts and minds are opening," said Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry, an organization working to win same-sex marriage rights. "Everyday is proof that we are changing the world-we are winning."

Wolfson, who spoke at the lecture, pointed to Massachusetts' legalization of same-sex marriages last May, the first state in the United States to do so.

"We must win more states, including this one," Wolfson said. "We need to make (the freedom) real."

Wolfson said the pro-gay marriage bill introduced by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, last year, which redefines marriage as a civil contract between two people, is a step in the right direction.

The bill is currently being evaluated by the state Legislature.

But while legislation supporting same-sex marriage has been introduced, 11 states passed constitutional bans against gay marriage in last year's election. Nearly 4,000 marriages that took place when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom opened up marriage to gays in the county were annulled last August.

Still, Wolfson urged the queer community to repel the anti-gay marriage legislation on the state and federal levels and reach out to a more diverse support base, including non-gays, whom he said could add their voice to ensure bills like Leno's pass.

At UCLA, the Student Coalition for Marriage Equality is mobilizing students to join the effort to legalize same-sex marriage.

The coalition is collecting voter identification from students who say they would support such an initiative if placed on the 2006 state ballot.

Such an initiative would require an official petition with 598,105 signatures-8 percent of the voters that voted in the last gubernatorial election, said UCLA freshman Gabriel Rose, the president of the coalition.

Rose said he plans to reach out to other state campuses.

"We'd love to find people out there in Berkeley to start this up," he said. "I know they exist."

UC Berkeley student groups have not been actively lobbying for marriage equality.

Deirdre Bourdet, a third-year law student, said the Boalt Hall Queer Caucus, originally set up as a political group, has stepped away from lobbying because of disagreement within the group.

Such inner squabbling reflects the divide within the larger gay community, she said, pointing to moments of tension during the lecture when some people in the audience criticized the fight for marriage equality as being too mainstream-an issue only promoting the concerns of white, affluent gay men.

"We've been plagued every year, where everyone just tunes out," Bourdet said. "And nothing gets done."

Kevin Rivera, a second year law student and co-chair of the caucus, said the UCLA student coalition's goal to target the ballot may not be effective.

"It doesn't make sense to take the vote to the general population," he said. "The reason why the mechanism is in place is because the general population is fine with it. You wouldn't go to the South and ask for them to vote on integration."

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