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Controversy Arises Over Commitment Ceremony

POSTED: 10:57 am EDT March 25, 2008
UPDATED: 1:16 pm EDT March 25, 2008

Plans continue to move forward for the upcoming weekend's controversial same-sex commitment ceremony that is to take place on the Penn State Main Campus.

State College Mayor Bill Welch will preside over the ceremony.

Plans also are in place for a family values rally Saturday afternoon to coincide with the ceremony.

The organizer of that rally, the Rev. Gary Dull, announced Tuesday that he and members of the Pennsylvania Family Values Coalition will present petitions bearing more than 4,000 signatures to Welch and Penn State administrators on Wednesday. Those petitions ask that Saturday's ceremony be canceled.

Meanwhile Channel 6 News spoke with two men who will be exchanging vows with their partners Saturday. Paul Datti and James Collins, both doctoral students at Penn State, said they expected simply a nice ceremony with friends and family, not the public attention the ceremony received. But they said they feel the ceremony could lead to positive change.

Collins said, "We just want to show the public that we're just like any other committed couple who loves each other."

Datti, who has been with his partner Frank for 10 years, said the support they've been getting from complete strangers is amazing. "People in our departments , in our buildings, even strangers have been telling us how much they support us. It's just been amazing," he said.


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