The Undergraduate Student Government Senate voted down a bill Tuesday that would have allowed students to voice their opinion on whether same-sex couples should have equal marriage rights.
Senate Bill 17, which was proposed to USG early last month by the student-led group Arizona Vote for Student Equality, received its second reading in the senate followed by a nearly hour-long debate.
The bill would have permitted the creation of a referendum during the 2012 student government elections.
The referendum language was never voted on, but the proposed wording was the following: “Do you think that the state and federal government should pass legislation that grants equal marriage rights to same-sex couples? YES, NO.”
The senators voted down the bill 11-3 with one abstention.
Those opposed to the bill were concerned that should most students vote “no,” ASU could seriously tarnish its image, appearing as unsupportive of the lesbian and gay communities. Some argued that such a referendum could even lead to state funding cuts.
Nearly 40 ASU students were present to show their support of AVSE and SB 17. Student organizations such as the Arizona Students’ Association were also present to express their disapproval of the bill.
“This is not an educational issue,” said ASA Director and political science and global studies sophomore Brendan Pantilione. “This is not something that directly affects (ASU). This is an issue that needs to be approached with extreme caution and we need to realize this might not be the place (for SB 17).”
AVSE founder and journalism junior Vaughn Hillyard said he was disappointed with the outcome of the vote.
“When I was a freshman, I got an ASU T-shirt that said ‘Do the bold thing,’” Hillyard said. “Unfortunately in this case the student government didn’t (do) that.”
Hillyard made sure to emphasize in his speech before the senate that USG would not be endorsing same-sex marriage, but would simply be allowing students to vote and take a stance on the issue.
“(AVSE) is just going to have to regroup now,” Hillyard said. “I don’t know where we’re going to go from here.”
USG Vice President James Baumer, who was opposed to the bill, said he felt the senate made the right decision.
“It was clear during the debate that the senate felt the same way (USG President Jacob Goulding and I) did,” Baumer said. “They realized it could have detrimental effects should (the ASU student population) have voted down same-sex marriage equality. It wasn’t just about the branding of ASU.”
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