THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140052
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TEENSPEAK
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 40 lines
GAY RIGHTS are so controversial that some people are offended even if the debate is acknowledged in a newspaper article. Yet the issue has such a high profile that it's the stuff of presidential politics: President Clinton sparked a nationwide debate when he announced last month that he would support legislation in Congress to deny recognition of homosexual marriages.
Nationally, polls show that two out of three adults are against gay and lesbian marriages.
Six students at Norview High in Norfolk interviewed about the issue reflected the division among their elders: Four said they personally oppose same-sex marriages, while two said such unions should be legally recognized.
The views of Jamie Krenek, a proponent, and Tommy Smigiel, an opponent, seemed to sum up the two camps at Norview.
Said Tommy, 17, a senior: ``I'm not prejudiced against gay people, but morally it's against society's standards. . . . Biologically, the reason we were put on Earth was to reproduce. That's what every animal competes to do.''
Said Jamie, 17, also a senior: ``You might as well say black people can't marry white people. It's just the whole discrimination factor. They are people just like everybody else living on this planet.''
Their comments framed a lively discussion.
``Blacks and whites can get together and produce, but if you put a man and a man together and they produce a baby, you're going to have to put that in the Guiness Book of World Records,'' said junior Velma Bunch, 17.
Tommy raised another sensitive topic - gays in the military. Tommy said gays should be allowed to serve.
``If they're willing to sacrifice their lives for their country, they should be allowed to serve,'' Tommy said.
Lakeisha Phelps, 18, who supported legal marriages for gays, said Tommy's opposition to gay marriage but support of gays in the military was contradictory. ``Does that mean you can die for your country but you can't be happy in your country?'' she asked. by CNB