-- From "At Loyola University, advocates of same-sex marriage find a voice" by Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune columnist 3/27/09
When John Litchfield, who's 26, enrolled at Loyola University's Chicago School of Law three years ago, he went to the student activities fair looking for the gay and lesbian support group. There wasn't one.
The lack of an official gay group at a Catholic school might not surprise you since the Roman Catholic church deems homosexual behavior a sin. But Litchfield was surprised. He had come to Loyola convinced that he'd be as accepted there as he was by his Catholic grandmother in Flossmoor, the south suburb where he grew up.
That year, he and a few other gay students formed a group, called OUTlaw. One of the deans signed on as an adviser.
And on Thursday, the flat-screen TVs all over the law school were advertising the group's latest venture: a big symposium on same-sex marriage.
And so on Friday there will be a discussion.
Greg Harris, the Chicago state representative who is shepherding a civil-unions bill through the Illinois legislature, will be on the panel. So will lawyers pressing for same-sex marriage in Iowa and California.
The panelists will be there to advocate. Litchfield anticipates students who will come to argue. It's all part of the education.
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