Berkeley Symposium on Same Sex Marriage: Law and Politics

Monday, April 19, 2004

1-5 pm

The Lipman Room (8th Floor, Barrows Hall), UC Berkeley

Sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) & the Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC)

Webcast of Symposium
The Symposium webcast is broken into two parts for each panel. The webcast requires RealPlayer.

Main webcast event page:
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events/details.html?event_id=145

Panel 1: The Law - A Roundtable
View Webcast
Running time: 2 hours, 4 minutes

Panel 2: The Politics
View Webcast
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Event Information

Campus map (Barrows Hall is located at D-4)


Report on the Same Sex Marriage Symposium

Same Sex Marriage Symposium: A Report by Alison Gash

Overview:

This afternoon's symposium focuses on the legal and constitutional issues surrounding the right to marry for same sex couples and its national political fallout. Recent state appellate court decisions have launched a national controversy over the issue of expanding the definition of traditional state-sanctioned marriage to include same sex partners. This event brings together the leading voices and forces engaged in this public policy debate. The symposium includes a broad and diverse spectrum of legal scholars, experts, advocates, and political scientists.

Participants:

Panel 1: The Law: A Roundtable
1- 3 pm
Rachel Moran (moderator), Boalt Hall Raven Professor of Law & Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC)

Panelists:

Alan Chambers, Executive Director, Exodus International
Teresa S. Collett, Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Evan Gerstmann, Professor of Political Science & Law, Loyola Marymount University
Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center on Lesbian Rights
Andrew Koppelman, Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law
Roger Magnuson, Dean- Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy
Carole Migden, Chairwoman, California State Board of Equalization
Jeffery Ventrella, Senior Vice President, Alliance Defense Fund

This roundtable discussion will feature legal scholars, practitioners, and experts exploring the legal and constitutional issues associated with same sex marriage. Each panelist will be given 5 minutes to give an opening statement followed by a moderated exchange among all roundtable participants.

3-3:15 pm: break

Panel 2: The Politics
3:15-5 pm
Bruce E. Cain, (moderator), Robson Professor of Political Science & Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS)

Panelists:

Robert H. Knight, Director, Culture & Family Institute, Concerned Women for America
Ken Sherrill, Professor of Political Science, CUNY-Hunter College
Winnie Stachelberg, Political Director, Human Rights Campaign
Randy Thomasson, Executive Director, Campaign for California Families

For the politics panel, panelists will deliver 15 minute presentations followed by a 30 minute exchange among the panelists led by the moderator.

Resources:

The symposium will be made available via webcast on the campus events webcasting service and relayed for broadcast via UC-TV.

IGS Library Hot Topic resources: Same Sex Marriage in California (April 1, 2004)
Contra Costa Times: Cal hosts forum on same-sex marriage (April 20, 2004)
The Daily Califiornian: Debaters Mull Legal Aspects of Same-Sex Marriage (April 20, 2004)
Report from Exodus International News (April 23, 2004)