Campus Explores Issue of Same-Sex Marriage

“Same-Sex Marriage” is the focus of a Wednesday, Oct 27, Town Hall at Cal State Fullerton — the latest in the university’s “Issues That Divide” series of town hall programs.

The 7:30 p.m. program, moderated by John Bedell, Academic Senate chair and professor of sociology, will explore the issue from sociological, legal, civic and religious perspectives.

“This is one of the most talked-about issues in the last five years,” Bedell noted. “For some, same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue; for others, it is an abomination. We need a respectful dialogue on both the facts and fictions of same-sex marriage, if we are to have an understanding of the complexities and legalities surrounding it,” he added.

Craig Smith, director of the Center for First Amendment Studies and professor of communication studies at Cal State Long Beach, will provide the forum’s opening remarks.

The town hall panelists are: Rhianne Paz Bergado, CSUF alumna and past member of the university’s Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Alliance, Association for Inter-Cultural Awareness and Titan Student Union Governing Board; Ronni Sanlo, director of UCLA’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campus Resource Center and lecturer in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education; Peter Sprigg, senior director of policy studies, Family Research Council, Washington, D.C.; and Ken Williams, physician and member of the Orange County Board of Education.

Phillip J. Gianos, director of the CSUF Center for Public Policy and professor of political science, will make a brief presentation focusing on Orange County residents’ opinions on same-sex marriage based on a recent survey conducted by the center. Max Dery, professor of criminal justice, will provide the town hall’s closing remarks.

Sponsors of the event in the Titan Student Union’s Portola Pavilion are the university’s Center for Community Dialogue and Center for Public Policy.

Additional information is available at 657-278-4854 or www.fullerton.edu/townhall.