Debate to focus on gay marriage

After the debate will be a question-and-answer session.
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Two prominent activists in the national debate on gay marriage will be featured in a debate Tuesday at Westminster College.
"The State of the Union: A Gay Marriage Debate" will be presented at 8 p.m. in Beeghly Theater by Allies, Westminster's gay-straight alliance. The debaters will Robert Knight, director of the culture and family institute and a drafter of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, and Jason West, mayor of New Paltz, N.Y., who performed 25 gay marriage ceremonies in February 2004 before a court order forced him to stop.
Allies will be hosting the debate, but it is sponsored in part by Diversity Symposium, the Diversity Office, the Student Government Association Diversity Speaker Fund, Sociology Interest Group, Green Party, College Democrats, the Political Science and Sociology Department and the Communication Studies, Theater and Art Department.
A question-and-answer session with the speakers will follow. Afterward, refreshments will be provided in the lobby of Beeghly.
Knight wrote and directed The Children of Table 34, a documentary about sex research pioneer Alfred C. Kinsey and a video about recovery from homosexuality, "Hope & amp; Healing." West was part of the first Green Party majority elected in New York State. He has won many awards for his stance on marriage equality and has been honored by the New York State Senate Democratic Conference, the California State Legislature and community organizations from around the country.
The event is free and open to the public. Contact Corrette-Bennett at (724) 946-7206 or e-mail corretjc@westminster.edu for more information.