Traditional marriage rally flooded by vocal dissenters
The scene on the Taggart Student Center Patio looked similar to a wedding, with a groom in a tuxedo and a bride in a white gown, but wedding guests were shouting at the couple rather than congratulating them.
The Utah State University College Republicans and Students for Traditional Values set up a table and microphone Wednesday and asked students walking by to sign a petition in support of “traditional marriage” between a man and a woman. One female and one male College Republican dressed as a bride and groom, and signers were treated to a piece of wedding cake.
A crowd of about 25 dissenters stood near the table and jeered at supporters of traditional marriage, shouting “Cake for segregation!” “Hate speech!” and “Students for zombie thinking!”
“We are the first college campus to do this,” said Tom Robins, the tuxedo-sporting state chairman of the College Republicans.
“We are going to start the revolution,” he said. “The silent majority will be silent no longer.”
Robins told students it was OK to support traditional marriage and stop San Francisco from defining what is done here.
Jennifer Smith, a USU student majoring in family and human development, took a piece of cake, stood in front of the crowd and deliberately dropped the cake on the rain-soaked cement. A young man picked up the cake, took a bite and walked away to laughter from the crowd.
“[The College Republicans’] methods aren’t working,” Smith said. “They’re yelling stuff over and over. It’s not that [the dissenters] don’t support traditional marriage, but they also support gay marriage.”
Two female dissenters took a piece of cake, fed a bite to each other in front of the crowd, and then kissed.
The women, former USU student Cristy Street and Lisa Hizinbothem, majoring in statistics, said they supported gay marriage. Hizinbothem said she was straight but kissed Street to make a point.
“It does not harm anyone to let people make their own decision,” she said.
Street said she was bisexual and that it was the first time she had kissed a woman. She said she came out about a year ago and “went through pure hell,” going into depression, dropping out of school and dealing with her Mormon family’s struggles.
“Do they think we asked to be this way?” she said. “I fell in love. I’ve had to deal with this all my life.”
The event, which lasted from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., was monitored by five USU campus police officers. Police Chief Steve Mecham said emotions “got a little high, but people were able to calm down. Some of the crowd members calmed their friends down.”
When other dissenters took cake and then dropped it on the ground, Mecham said he asked them to pick up the napkins so there wasn’t a littering problem, and said the individuals complied. Someone unplugged the College Republicans’ microphone three times, Mecham said.
Robins said, “[The dissenters] want you to accept them, but if you disagree with them, they’ll cut off your microphone.”
Beckie Kimber, a College Republican and senior majoring in political science, wore a wedding dress during the event and stood by Robins in his tuxedo. Robins told passers-by to take a look at what a married couple should look like – a man and a woman – because “in 20 years, maybe kids won’t remember what [traditional marriage] is,” he said to cheers from supporters.
“I don’t care if people yell, it doesn’t faze me,” Kimber said. “The majority needs to stand up and be respected.”
Jay Chambers, business major and founder of Students for Traditional Values, said 742 people signed the petition supporting traditional marriage in about two and a half hours. The petition will be sent to Utah Gov. Olene Walker.
College Republican President Gabe White said he was surprised at the level of outlash against the event.
“This is so unreal. I didn’t expect this,” he said, looking at the crowd shouting at College Republican Mike Robins while he told students to not let one of the pillars of society be torn down by Massachusetts.
A dissenter shouted at Mike Robins “Open your mind, you freaks,” to which he replied, “If you open your mind too much your brain might fall out.”
One of the outspoken dissenters, Travis Taylor, a junior in conservation and restoration ecology, said prohibiting same-sex marriage is another form of bigotry.
“I don’t think people should care whether same-sex people get married,” Taylor said. “A lot of the point of view against it comes from religion. I just don’t see why issues like this should even go to court. People have different beliefs and you can’t change that.”
Carson Nuttall, a senior majoring in engineering, said he thought the event was great for letting the truth be heard.
“[The dissenters] are afraid to let the majority rule the country,” he said. “The minority has been controlling too much.”
Smith said the College Republicans were supporting “legal discrimination against other humans, which is wrong.”
One student said sexual orientation and race aren’t the same.
“In my opinion, homosexuality is a sin,” said Kellon Hansen, a junior majoring in biology and pre-med. “Minorities aren’t sinning.”
Marc Nielsen, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, said both sides were “yelling and screaming at each other.”
-heidithue@cc.usu.edu
Travis Taylor, a junior in conservation and restoration ecology, yells in protest as College Republican Mike Robins speaks in favor of traditional marriage Wednesday. (Photo by John Zsiray)
Students hold up their shoes after College Republicans, in parody of “wear blue jeans to support gay marriage day,” told everyone in the crowd to wear shoes in support of marriage only between a man and a woman. (Photo by John Zsiray)