Gays, Genes and God” —
Marlboro College Hosts Lecture and a Sneak Preview Film Screening with Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, April 20 at 7:00 PM.

- Biologist, documentary filmmaker and award-winning author Dean Hamer will present a free, open to the public sneak preview film screening, discussion and lecture at Marlboro College at 7:00 pm on Monday, April 20 in the Whittemore Theater.

The presentation will begin with a screening of the soon-to-be-released documentary film, OUT IN THE SILENCE, co-produced by Hamer and his partner, Joe Wilson. The film and complementary discussion will explore the basis for the firestorm of controversy that was ignited in Wilson’s small hometown after his and Hamer’s wedding announcement was published in the local newspaper. Supported by the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program, OUT IN THE SILENCE is a provocative and entertaining documentary about courageous local residents confronting bigotry, discrimination and the limitations of religion, tradition, and the status quo in a conservative small town in the hills of western Pennsylvania.

Hamer’s lecture, entitled, “Gays, Genes and God,” will delve into two perennial questions: Is sexual orientation a choice or are people born gay? And why are religious beliefs about this topic still so strong? Surprising new scientific studies, many of them conducted at Hamer’s laboratory at the National Institute of Health, reveals how both topics are informed by human behavioral genetics.

Hamer is the director of Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S. National Cancer Institute and author of two books, ”The Science of Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene and The Biology of Behavior” and ”The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired Into Our Genes,” that have helped redefine the conversation about behavioral genetics. ”The Science of Desire” received a New York Times Book of the Year award when it was published in 1991.

Books will be available for sale in the lobby of the Whittemore Theater before and after the lecture. For more information, please contact the Marlboro College Public Relations Department at (802) 251-7644, or visit www.marlboro.edu.

For more information about the film, please visit the web site: http://www.OutintheSilence.com

CONTACT:
Chris Lenois, 802-251-7644 or clenois@marlboro.edu

The community is invited to a Rainbow Potluck and Emergency Queer Town Meeting on Wednesday, October 29 at 6 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Williamstown. Organized by the Williams College Queer Student Union and the First Congregational Church in Williamstown, this meeting is to address the propositions which will appear on ballots in many states on November 4.. They will amend state constitutions to say that marriage is “Only” between a man and a woman.

Come with a potluck dish to share and your cell phone in hand. In an effort to be environmentally responsible we encourage people also to bring their own plates, glasses, and cutlery. Coffee and tea will be provided.

After dinner, participants who wish to may make calls to voters in California urging them to vote “No” on that state’s Proposition 8.
Proposition 8 will appear on the California ballot titled “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” If it passes, it will add a new constitutional amendment to the California Constitution that will say “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California” and it will be known in law as the California Marriage Protection Act.
This past May, the California Supreme Court invalidated that statute on the grounds that it violated the state constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. The Court ruled that the right to marry is a fundamental individual right that must be provided equally to all people desiring to marry. Allowing same-sex couples to share in this right does not denigrate or degrade the marriages of people who enter into the man-woman form of marriage and should be regarded as a civil right.

Marriage is the institution that conveys dignity and respect to the lifetime commitment of any couple. Those committed and loving couples who want to accept the responsibility that comes with marriage should be treated like everyone else.