UNT hosts event on Marriage Equality and Religious Liberty to honor Constiution Day

Hundreds of students gathered in the auditorium building Thursday to listen to a debate by guest speakers on the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision on marriage equality.

The debate was hosted by the University of North Texas Honors College and the Department of Political Science in honor of Constitution Day. Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas, argued on behalf of the decision while Chelsey Youman, associate counsel for the Liberty Institute, argued on behalf of religious liberty. 

"I think all of us have different views on the issue, which is why we're excited to hear from both sides today," Honors College representative Rafael Major said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the right to marriage is a fundamental liberty guaranteed to opposite-sex couples as well as same-sex couples. The 5-4 decision held that exclusion from same-sex couples from the right to marry violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as the Equal Protection Clause. 

First to the stage was Robertson, who argued that the right to marriage for same-sex couples does not interfere with religious liberty. 

"The court wasn't being asked to decide whether same-sex marriage was Godly or moral," Robertson said. "There's nothing about the Obergefell decision that forces any of those people [people of faith] to change what they believe."

On the other side, Youman argued that the decision has caused religious people to be called out for their beliefs, to the extent that many are being sued if they speak out against the decision or refuse service to same-sex couples. 

"Should the government force people to go against their conscience?" Youman said. "The irony for me is that, in the name of exclusion, religious minority groups are being asked not to participate in the public sphere."

Both Robertson and Youman argued that that both sides of the issue can find a way to coexist.

"I think our Constitution is big enough for both [issues]," Robertson said. 

One student said that he enjoyed the debate and that he thought both of the speakers argued their sides well. 

"I think both people defended their sides well," he said. "I think the woman from the ACLU had an easier time because she's at UNT, which is a more liberal school."

The debate was held at 11 a.m. in the Auditorium building.