Citizens Speak: Same Sex Marriage

Published on: 7 Feb, 2013
Updated on: 8 Feb, 2013

Same sex marriage is an issue that affects the whole country and the recent vote in Parliament has attracted much attention. Some strong views are held and there appears to be no clear consensus. The Guildford Dragon NEWS decided that it would get a snap shot of opinion in Guildford.

We have also followed up by reporting Guildford MP, Anne Milton’s explanation of why she abstained in the parliamentary vote.

Helen Roach – Godalming
	No I don’t think that this should have been voted through and I don’t think that there should have been a referendum. They are very expensive. I know people who are in civil partnerships: they seem happy with the way things are and can’t understand what all the fuss is about. I know it is not a popular view but I really think it is better for children to be raised by heterosexual couples. I don’t think that older people necessarily have more conservative views on this or other issues. If anything, I think we get more tolerant as we get older and have experienced more life. What does annoy me is that they have spent time on this issue when there are so many more important things they could discuss, such as: welfare benefits, poor families, Europe, health issues, nurses pay, those who are on the bread-line. Frankly, I think Anne Milton should have come down on one side or the other.
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David Gatfield – Onslow Village
	I am glad it got voted through yesterday and that it passed without a referendum. I do know a few people who will be affected and it is very positive for them. Hopefully, there will not be any problems when they introduce it but I expect there probably will be because others might not view same sex couples positively. There are still many narrow minded people who will discriminate. It will take years to be fully accepted. I think age does probably dictate one’s views on this subject. I am not very happy about the way Anne Milton voted, I think she should have voted in favour but then if she felt that abstaining was the best way to represent the mixed views in her constituency I suppose that is understandable.
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Al Harba – Burpham
	I think they were right to vote it through because if people love each other they should be able to do what they want. I don’t think that there should have been a referendum it would have been horrible for the public to vote on the issue. I don’t really know anyone who would be affected by this. I can’t see any real problems that might emerge although some might be scared that same sex couples might influence their children’s sexuality. I do think that age does largely dictates views on the subject ansd I think Anne Milton should have voted in favour.
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Dave Simmons, Matthew Johnson and Michael Sams Students from University of Surrey – Consensual view
	There should have been a referendum but we are all fairly apathetic on the issue. We know a couple of people on Facebook that will be affected. I suppose one could say that straight people will be affected too if the status of marriage changes. We can’t see that any practical problems are likely to emerge but there is a risk that the government might be forced to allow same sex changes in church in the future. We do think that younger people are probably more likely to be in favour of same sex marriage, yes. Anne Milton should have voted one way or the other but then if she feels that the views of her constituents are divided roughly 50-50 perhaps abstaining is fair enough.
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Samuel Afalohan – Harvey Road
	No I don’t think they were right to vote it through. I think that they should have held a referendum. I would suggest that they allow the gay community to develop there own form of partnership but it could not be marriage which I believe has to be between a man and a woman. My views are based on my Christian beliefs although I know different churches have different views, which is fine. I don’t know anyone who will be affected and I don’t think it will cause any problems when it is introduced, although I think it is best for children to have a man and a woman for their mum and dad. I would not say that age is the main factor that determines peoples views on the subject. I think people of all ages have different views on this based on their own perspective. Yes, I think it was fine for Anne Milton to abstain. I might have voted that way myself.

What do you think? Why not add your views to the debate answering the same questions asked of our interviewees:

Do you think that Parliament was right to vote for same sex marriage? Should there have been a referendum?
Do you know anyone that will be affected?
Can you see any problems with same-sex marriage?
Do you think that views on the subject are largely dictated by one’s age, i.e older people are more conservative?
What do you think of Guildford’s MP, Anne Milton, abstaining in the vote?

You can easily make your views known too. Just use the ‘Leave a Reply’ feature below to give your answers…