Panel Day Reflection

The panelist for same sex marriage were Mary Anne Hegemen, a Mormon with an opposing view point, Tom Little, a former Legislate and rep. for Shelburne during the civil union issue, and David Zuckerman, who was a rep. for 14 years in the  Vermont House of Representatives.

Tom Little was very responsive to our questions on  the legal side of same sex marriage and gay/lesbian rights.  He had a very supportive legal view point and shared with us why, legally, not allowing same sex marriage was wrong.  I don't know what his personal viewpoint is (it may have been un-supportive, who knows?) but he defiantly supported same sex marriage through a legal standpoint because he saw no defense against marrying two people who wanted too be with one another.

Mary Anne Hegemen  was a tad frustrating. Her view point on the issue was based on the bible.  I did not find her personal view point frustrating, I was frustrated by her lake of participation. She did not answer any questions that were about the legal view or any particularly question on same sex marriage.  When she did answer questions about either children or family values, her answer was only "god will come and make it right." This doesn't offend me, even though this is not my view. What really bothered me was that she did not explain her answer.  She didn't say why this was her view or what it actually meant. This panelist did not help me very much.

I found David Zuckerman very helpful and the most passionate about the topic.  He really put his personal input into the discussion.  I also really agreed with his personal view. His views on the issue were that...its not not issue.  He thinks that there are many more issues in our nation that are much more concerning then same sex marriage, and I agree. He also thinks that our generation is much more tolerant of same sex couples then his ever was. I thinks this is true as well, just from looking at the people around me and observing their views.  I really liked that he was respectful but he still made his opinions known.