LITTLE ROCK, AR - "The idea that you can redefine marriage in this way is simply a fad," said Dr. Jennifer Morse with The Ruth Institute during a heated same sex marriage debate, Thursday at the UALR School of Law.
"Marriage is not a conservative value," LGBT lawyer Christina Sun argued back. "It's not a liberal value. It's a family value."
This debate over same sex marriage is not the first time Dr. Morse and Sun have entered into a heated discussion.
"The findings are very clear," said Sun. "That there is absolutely no difference between parenting of same sex couples as there is by heterosexual couples."
Sun sparred with Morse in 2008 over Arkansas' Act One - a measure struck down by the State Supreme Court that would have made it illegal for unmarried couples to adopt.
"What we're implicitly saying here is that biology doesn't matter to anybody. that biology isn't supposed to matter to anybody," said Dr. Morse.
Morse believes marriage is defined by the public function, or the purpose of procreating, and not about sexuality at all.
"Same sex couples have children differently than opposite couples do therefore it makes sense to have somewhat different legal institutions to protect the rights and responsibilities that are associated with that," argued Dr. Morse.
"Our nation is premised on the idea of inclusiveness," said Sun. "Not excluding people."
With the California Federal Appeals Court striking down the ban on same sex marriage the same week the state of Washington works to legalize it, the conversation is far from over both at UALR and all throughout the country.
