Second gay marriage question added to ballot

Correction appended

After more than three hours of debate at a special meeting Thursday night, the USG Senate voted to add a second question on gay marriage to the referendum, but chose not to rescind or change the text of the original referendum.

The new question reads: "As a student of Princeton University, do you support the right of all consenting adult couples to marry regardless of sexual orientation?"

The meeting was called following campus debate over the USG's approval of the first referendum, which asks whether the USG should sign on to an amicus brief supporting gay marriage. Some argue that the issue lies outside of the role of the USG, while supporters say that it is directly relevant to gay students.

The lengthy debate, which became heated at times, ranged from issues of grammar and meaning to broader philosophical questions.

"As we discuss the issue more in this room, we seem to be coming to more of a consensus than we did the last time," USG President Leslie-Bernard Joseph '06 said during the meeting, after declining to make an opening statement. "This does affect Princeton students."

The Senate voted on Nov. 23 to put before students the question of whether the USG should endorse an amicus brief supporting a same-sex marriage case that will soon be before the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Treasurer Meka Asonye '07 said a referendum on the brief would be monumental for the University. "We're breaking through the orange bubble," he said. "We need to get out of this little shell we have. It would be the biggest thing that the USG did in a very long time."

Much of the debate focused on the USG's purpose, which is described in its constitution as "[t]o discuss, deliberate, and vote on any question relating to or affecting undergraduate life at Princeton University, or any other question of interest to the undergraduates."

U-Councilor James Williams '06 said that the constitution gives the USG the power to discuss and vote on larger questions. He argued that the USG "should be dealing with student issues, student concerns."

But, he added, the question of "whether [the issue of same-sex marriage] affects Princeton students is irrelevant...we should be absolutely free to discuss policy issues that are of interest to Princeton students."

He cited the example of genocide in Darfur, an issue that would be "hard to argue that it directly affects the lives of Princeton students" but something students might want to see the USG condemn.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

U-Councilor Brandon Parry '06 expressed concerns about the potential for the USG to become caught up in political concerns that not are as immediate to campus life as issues like food at Frist Campus Center and the smoking ban in campus dormitories. "We don't want to become a poll-taking agency," he said.

After several failed motions to write new drafts of the resolution, the Senate voted to move to new business about the USG presidential election in an executive committee session.

The referendum text to be sent to students remains: "Shall the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) be directed to sign on to the amicus brief submitted by the Princeton Justice Project on behalf of the plaintiffs in Lewis v. Harris, same-sex couples seeking to marry in New Jersey?"