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Show World&Nation Page 4 Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 Historian: Prop 8 played on anti-gay stereotypes SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A Yale professor testifying in a case challenging California's same-sex marriage ban said Tuesday that the 2008 campaign to pass Proposition 8 played on stereotypes historically used to portray "homosexuals as perverts who pray on young children, out to entice straight people into sick behavior." George Chauncey, a his- torian who specializes in the subject of 20th century gay life, was the second expert witness to appear for two couples unable to marry because of the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban. Their lawsuit has led to the first federal trial to decide the constitutionality of laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman. After viewing several television commercials produced by Proposition 8's sponsors, Chauncey said images and language suggesting the ballot initiative was needed to "protect children" were reminiscent of earlier efforts to "demonize" gays, ranging from police raids on gay bars during the 1950s to campaigns to rid public schools of gay teachers in the 1970s. "You have a pretty strong echo of this idea that simple SRO PRESENTS: SR THE GRASCALS The Ellen Eccles Theatre January 21, 2010, 7:30p.m. (doors open at 7:00pm) STANDING ROOM ONLY PRODUCTIONS MISk 2007 IBMA entertainers of the year and 2 time Grammy Nominees exposure to gay people and their relationships is somehow going to lead a whole generation of young kids to become gay," Chauncey said. "The underlying message here is something about the undesirability of homosexuals, that we don't want our children to become this way." Chauncey's views were introduced to help persuade Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who is hearing the case without a jury, that the California measure unlawfully discriminates against gays because it was based on an underlying hatred or moral disapproval and serves no legitimate public aim. Court concluded with a lawyer for Proposition 8's backers just beginning to cross-examine Chauncey, who is scheduled to resume his testimony on Wednesday. Earlier Tuesday, another history professor, Nancy Cott of Harvard University, presented a centuries-old history lesson on government regulation of marriage, even touching on President Bill Clinton's indiscretions to argue that the institution has evolved dramatically over time. In her second day of testi- mony, Cott disputed a statement by a defense lawyer that states have a compelling interest to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples for the sake of procreation. Cott said marriage also serves an economic purpose – one that was especially pronounced when it was assumed that men and women performed different jobs in their partnership. But as traditional gender roles and the purposes of marriage have changed, the reasons to bar same-sex couples from marrying have gone away, she said. "It does seem to me that the direction of change leads consistently toward the appropriateness of allowing same-sex couples to marry," she said. Under cross-examination by a lawyer for the sponsors of California's Proposition 8, Cott conceded she couldn't predict the consequences for society of same-sex marriage. Defense attorney David Thompson spent more than two hours reading excerpts from Cott's writings and testimony in state-level gay rights cases to portray her as an advocate who was selectively reading the historical record to support her personal views. "In your opinion, morality has been uncoupled from marriage, correct?" Thompson asked. Cott said she had written something to that effect in the context of adultery and premarital sex no longer being considered crimes. Thompson asked if she considered the public's willingness to excuse Clinton's infidelity while in office to be evidence of a "seismic shift" in sexual mores. Yes," Cott said. "The majority of the public overlooked his infidelities because, I argued, the social meaning of marriage had moved toward the idea that spouses themselves are best equipped to decide what is acceptable behavior within marriage, not something the state would judge." The expert testimony marked a change in tone from the trial's first day, when the plaintiffs – Kristin Perry, 45, and her partner, Sandra Stier, 47, of Berkeley, and a gay couple from Burbank, Paul Katami, 37, and Jeffrey Zarrillo – gave intimate accounts of how being unable to wed affected their lives. MO' Missouri funeral home director gets house arrest • THE .4. 1 G A S Buy any one regularly priced ticket and get the second FREE along with a *FREE Kalua Pork upgrad with the Purchase of a Pounder Plate! Tickets can be purchased at: www.centerforthearts.us or at (435) 752-0026. Enter promo code: USU2for *valid January 10, 2010 thru February 10, 2010 MONDAY Hot Chocolate & Donuts 5:30pm @ Spectrum doors Men's Basketball vs. Hawaii - 7pm KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri funeral director who deliberately gave the wrong ashes to grieving families and discarded decaying corpses in his basement deserves a harsher punishment than house arrest and probation, angry victims said Tuesday. Patricia Johnson said she sometimes wakes up haunted by nightmares of the day in late 2008 when she stood in a Columbia cemetery for what seemed like hours in the numbing cold, waiting for proof that the person inside a casket was her sister. Johnson believes that Harold Warren Sr., the man responsible for her anguish, got off lightly. A Boone County circuit judge sentenced Warren on Monday to 60 days under house arrest and five years of probation. The court ordered him to pay restitution and run an apology in the local newspaper. And the 77-year-old was banned from owning or operating a funeral home. "It's too late for a public apology," Johnson told The Associated Press. "I don't feel like there's no excuse in this world for what he's done." State officials ordered the Warren Funeral Chapel in Columbia to close in July 2008 after a woman's body was found stored in an electrical room for 10 months without being embalmed or refrigerated. Investigators later found several more rotting bodies and a garbage bag filled with organs. Johnson, 45, said her family and Warren's have known each other since long before he ran the funeral home. Warren was friends with her grandparents in the 1970s when he became Columbia's first black city councilman – a title that she believes kept him out of jail. Mary Ratliff, president of the Missouri chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Warren had made some mistakes. She said he tried to help everyone, even if they didn't have any money to pay for a funeral. THURSDAY Root Beer Pong Tournament 12pm @ the HUB: Grab a Partner and compete for prize. ifahstate Retro Sports Neon Dance 9pm-12am @ International Lounge: Dance Party! Wear TUESDAY 3pt Shoot-out Try-outs 10:30am-12:30pm @ Fieldhouse: Top 2 to compete your favorite retro sports attire to this neon dance. Awesome knee-high Aggie socks will be available for purchase at the dance to complete your outfit! during Halftime at Saturday's basketball game for prize: ipod touch. Kissing Decathalon FRIDAY Sports Night at the Sports Academy 12:30 pm-1:30pm @ International Lounge: Come lock 9:30pm-12am: Indoor Pool & Hot Tub, Basketball, tennis, lips with your your partner and compete for prize. racquetball, ping-pong, tumbling room, Comedian trampolines & FREE FOOD 7pm @ Ballroom - Kira Soltanovich SATURDAY WEDNESDAY 3pt Shoot-out Try-outs 10:30am-12:30pm @ Fieldhouse: Top 2 to compete Wear your BLUE game day shirt!!! After-Party during Halftime at Saturday's basketball game for 9:30pm-2am @ Elite Security building: located next to prize: ipod touch. Beehive Grill. Free food, drinks, dancing, etc. Indoor Mini-Golf 11 am-2pm @ International Lounge. Women's Basketball vs. Nevada - 7pm Movie: The Mighty Ducks ti BLUE OUT! Men's Basketball vs. Boise St. - 7pm 9:30pm @ Fieldhouse. f |