Gay Marriage at Anne Arundel Community College

            The majority of students at Anne Arundel Community College support gay marriage, according to an informal survey taken on campus Thursday afternoon.

"I don't see why they should have different rights from everyone else," said Ashley Holtgereve, an AACC student from Pasadena.

At the time of the survey, the Maryland House of Delegates and the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee had recently voted in favor of the same-sex marriage bill, but the bill still awaited approval by Maryland's Senate.  

While the same-sex bill was voted on and passed Thursday night by the Maryland Senate, the bill may still be sent to a referendum, which would enable Maryland state citizens to vote on the bill to give the final say in its passage.  

Many same-sex marriage supporters, however, are concerned about the possibility of the bill being voted down if brought to a referendum.  Several organized religions have already spoken out against the same-sex bill in Maryland, which could influence the passage of the bill if it were to be brought to a referendum.

"There's still a lot of judgment about the whole thing," said Ashley Holtgereve, an AACC student from Pasadena.  Holtgereve said there are a lot of people still afraid of gay marriage, the same way they were afraid of interracial marriage, and that if the bill was brought to a referendum, the results could potentially “go either way”.

Shannon Borgyn, a first-year AACC college student from Glenn Burnie and same-sex marriage supporter, also expressed similar concerns regarding the referendum.

“I don’t know what would happen if it were left up to the people,” she said.

Borgyn compared current fears towards same-sex marriage to the same sentiments of “taboo” that have been expressed towards interracial marriage in the past.

 “People make it [out to be] too much of a big deal…if people were used to the idea [of gay marriage], then they wouldn’t be afraid…I believe that over the years, people find love, and that love is love no matter what kind of people it is.”

AACC students that took part in the survey drew in some way from their own past experiences, political beliefs, and former relationships to formulate an opinion on Maryland's same-sex bill.   Samokhvalova spoke out on a personal level to tell surveyors she has friends who are gay who are currently dating other students at AACC.

Robert Warren, an AACC student from Annapolis, also spoke on a personal level regarding the bill, bringing to light his military experiences and the recent upheaval of its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“I’ve had plenty of experience with gays or lesbians in the military,” said Warren.  “It really doesn’t matter to me, so I say go for it."