OREM -- Regarding same-sex marriages, Steve Clark and Lynn Wardle have finally found political ground they can share.
Both Clark, legal director for Utah's ACLU, and Wardle, a Brigham Young University law professor, believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the free-speech right to campaign for Proposition 22 in California.But regarding the ideology driving the proposal to define marriage as a union between "one man and one woman," Clark and Wardle, who spoke at Utah Valley State College Wednesday, couldn't be farther apart.
"Gays and lesbians exist in our society, and they are parts of our families," said Clark, who doesn't agree with the church's position on the California initiative but supports its right to take a position from the pulpit.
"My view of marriage is a context . . . in which humans can understand their power and potential," he says. "If that's the definition, then we should be willing to open it up to anyone willing to undertake those vows."
Wardle, author of " Contemporary Family Law: Principles, Policy and Practice," counters that the traditional definition of marriage -- the contract between a man and a woman -- is the bedrock of society.
"We value marriage because marriage is a unique institution," Wardle said. "I ask, where is the evidence that (same-sex marriages) contribute to society?"
Wardle said gay unions don't create an environment for child rearing or provide a stable unit of society.
"The consequences are dangerous for society as a whole," he said.
Wardle's arguments, Clark said, are the very same that were made when anti-interracial marriage laws were being challenged. Besides, he said, children cannot be taught sexuality. If sexuality is taught, he wondered aloud, then why is he (Clark) gay? He didn't learn it at home; his parents and his siblings are all decided heterosexuals.
"You can't teach sexuality," he said. "I didn't just wake up one day and decide this would be a fun thing to do."
An informal poll of the packed audience showed that about 30 percent supported gay marriage. Some 50 raised their hands in opposition to same-sex unions.
The LDS Church, which owns BYU, has been a behind-the-scenes player in the fight against same-sex marriage.
The LDS Church has allocated money and recruited church members to campaign for anti-gay initiatives.
Californians will vote March 7 on Proposition 22.