Peace, Love and Understanding

New York University students Ryan Kalb and Leon Setton reclined on a bed in their dorm room at 400 Broome Street, in New York's Little Italy. They sat down to discuss their political views with journalism student Alexis Wenska, but the conversation quickly shifted to a more universal topic.

"I don't believe in marriage," Setton said. "It's this archaic notion that we need to live with someone else, especially someone of the opposite sex. And only one person for your whole life?"

"The government should not be getting in the way of its citizens' individual rights," Kalb added. "Gay men deserve all the same rights given to a man and a woman. Our government is infringing too much on people's personal lives."

Kalb was a lifelong member of the Republican Party, but when he realized that his political affiliations had been determined more by his hometown and his parents than by his own beliefs, he had a change of heart. He now considers himself Libertarian.

"My being a Republican wasn't grounded on anything in terms of principles," Kalb admitted. "But we're all biased because of our background."

Setton identified himself far more readily as a Democrat, but he agrees with Kalb on the issue of marriage.

"The state has the power to reward binary relationships between men and women," he said. "But the same rewards that are afforded to people who are married should be afforded to gay people who can't be married."

"Basically, the government should back the fuck up," Kalb concluded.