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The Marlin ChroniCle THURSDAY 11.13.14 || MARLINCHRONICLE.VWC.EDU ||
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
SOCCER: VWC 2, LYNCHBURG 2 (LYNCHBURG 3-0 PK’s)
Men’s soccer falls to Lynchburg BY ALEXIS PRATT amplatt@vwc.edu
Anthony Dellamura | Marlin Chronicle Tim Bostic, right, and his husband Tony London, left, pose for a picture after the “Illegal Love: Tim Bostic on Politics, Religion and Marriage Equality” event. It took place days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted marriage equality in Virginia.
Marriage equality for all a reality
BY JESSICA MACKEY jlamckey@vwc.edu
Last month, Tim Bostic and his husband Tony London visited Virginia Wesleyan College, giving a lecture titled, “Illegal Love: Tim Bostic on Politics, Religion and Marriage Equality.” Bostic was very candid about his and London’s decision to sue the commonwealth of Virginia. Bostic also revealed intimate details of his life, spanning his love for London, his appreciation of his father’s love, and his strong belief in faith and the faith community, leaving all those who attended with a renewed understanding of the discussion of same-sex marriage in America. More than 32 states have granted citizens the right to marry someone of the same sex. In Virginia, the fight for this right gained intensity when Bostic and his partner London sought to obtain a marriage license at the Norfolk Circuit Court in July 2013. However, due to a 2006 law banning same-sex marriages in Virginia, their request was denied. “The couple filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, and on Feb. 13, 2014, the court ruled in their favor,” said Kathleen Casey, assistant professor of history at Virginia Wesleyan College. “In a strongly worded ruling, Judge Arenda Wright Allen argued that laws prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from marrying are unconstitutional. She further declared that marriage is a fundamental right of all people. The New York Times called her ruling ‘the strongest legal reversal yet of restrictive marriage amendments that exist throughout the South.’” However, the case did not end there. “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Judge Wright’s decision in a ruling handed down in July, but as you probably recall, shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court granted an emergency request to stay the mandate,” Casey said.
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“After the Supreme Court let stand the Fourth Circuit Court’s ruling, on Oct. 6, 2014, Bostic and London were able to obtain their marriage license.” “For as long as we have been a nation, marriage has played a fundamental role in shaping the contours of our relationships, our households, our communities, our states and our nation,” Casey said. “But marriage has not remained the same over time. Who could get married, at what age, who could officiate a marriage, what rights married people possessed and under what circumstances a marriage could be terminated have all undergone dramatic revision over time.” Marriage provides couples certain legal and civic liberties and privileges that single people are denied. This fact was one reason that Bostic and London decided to sue the commonwealth of Virginia. But the most important one was their desire to stand up in their church and pledge their love for each other. Although the courts have ruled marriage equality a reality, many remain opposed to same-sex marriage. “Are there people mad about it? Yes,” Bostic said. “Are there people sick of talking about it? Yes…and I really do think there are always going to be people that oppose and stir people up with fear, hate and negativity because they will never win.” Some people support the couple unwaveringly. “I have over 300 of my former students have reached out to me,” Bostic said. “[One said,] ‘You always taught us to stand up for ourselves and for people who weren’t being treated fairly, and it’s nice to see you doing it yourself. And I can’t wait for my daughter to grow up so I can tell her, not only did you teach me, but you taught the rest of the world…’” Everyone who attended the event took away something different from Bostic’s emotional and informative talk. In Dr. Casey’s case, she said she hopes
ONLINE: Read the full story of the interview with Tim Bostic on his personal account of the lawsuit and the legalization of marriage equality. “those who came to the event took away three things in particular. I hope they gained an awareness of the tremendous historic change that is rapidly unfolding around them. We get so inundated by social media and the news, and so wrapped up in our own personal lives, that sometimes it’s hard to stop and recognize when something really historic is happening right around us. I hope this event prompted students to see that. I also think that regardless of your political ideologies, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation, Dr. Bostic said some things about faith, family and determining our own fates that I hope resonated with everyone. Most of all, I hope everyone went home and talked about the event with a friend or family member. I hope they discussed what they heard and how it made them feel, and that it prompted a dialogue on this campus and elsewhere.” “We have to demand [change in society] as citizens,” Bostic said. “One of the things that worries me…the idea of being a citizen...everyone understands the rights you get without understanding the responsibilities you get. And one of the responsibilities we have as citizens is to redefine and work towards fulfilling the ideals of which this country was founded. But, it’s up to us to do it.…our system works but you have to work it. Even in a state like Virginia, a Southern state, people are going to support what is right because at the end of the day we all know our ideals, it’s just that I don’t think we are ever called by our leaders, our educators, by anyone to live up to them because we get too focused on the negative and that just is not me. I won’t focus on the negative. I shake it off.”
Going into the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament, men’s soccer players knew they were going to have to bring a lot of energy. Unfortunately, the defending champions ended their season earlier than planned due to hard, well-played double overtime, and a final penalty kick match-up with the Lynchburg Hornets. Going into this game, the Marlins wanted to have fun. “There’s no atmosphere like a playoff game, so having fun on the field is why we play,” junior keeper Connor Kirkham said. Earlier in the season, the Marlins took on the Hornets and tied 0-0. For the semi-finals of the ODAC conference play, the two teams met again and went into double overtime. After two overtimes the game was determined by the best of five penalty kicks, and the Marlins had to walk away with a loss. “When you lose, you don’t like penalty kicks but when you win, penalty kicks are OK. It was a tough way to go out but both teams battled, went back and forth and had scoring opportunities in two overtimes, but unfortunately we came out on the losing end,” Head Coach Mills said. “It’s never easy to end your season so much earlier when the last two years have gone at least to championship games, but I think my team is using it to learn. I think it will ultimately help us for next year,” Kirkham said. The Marlins weren’t surprised that they were going to have to battle this game out. “We prepared our penalty kicks for about two weeks, we didn’t have success but they did a great job training for them, and if we went out there again I would put the same guys on the line,” said Mills. The Marlins battled against an equally talented team. “I was never at any point disappointed in my players, I think that the work rate that they possessed was big,” said Mills. “We came back in the game twice which proves a lot of heart for this team. Penalty kicks are never the best way to finish a year, but it’s all a part of the game,” Kirkham said. The Marlins are losing strong seniors who have impacted this team tremendously. “At first I never really thought about losing our seniors. I was just shocked it hadn’t quite hit me yet, but when I walked up to Stephen Sawicki is when it really hit me. It’s not easy losing seniors at their last game, and it got to me,” said Kirkham. “I am going to miss suffering and doing hard conditioning with the team. As crazy as that sounds, it’s a rare form of bonding when you are exhausted and you look over to your teammates and they are the only people in the world that can relate to your level of pain. It’s a weird concept but common suffering brings bonding,” senior Isaac Arrington said. “It’s weird for this to be my last season playing soccer as a Marlin, I’ve dedicated copious hours to soccer here at Wesleyan, it is really strange to have class as my only obligation, I have learned so many life lessons from playing soccer here at Wesleyan and those stem from my decisions.” said Arrington. “We lose some key players, so we don’t really have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We really have to get out there and start recruiting,” Mills said.
11/11/2014 10:21:19 PM