More than 150 people packed the City Council chambers in Portsmouth City Hall last Wednesday night for the latest in a series of public meetings held by the state's commission to study same-sex civil marriages. Of those offering testimony on the subject, opinion seemed to be split evenly on the issue, with emotions running high for both camps.

Portsmouth resident Warren Goddard was the first speaker of the evening, coming out against civil unions because they do not result in reproduction.

"When this order is performed properly, we have a reproduction, which is necessary for society," he said. "To say something is a 'same-sex marriage' is an oxymoron."

Goddard stood at the back of the room for much of the public hearing, at one point returning to the podium to denounce Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester) for "making a sham out of this meeting" after Vaillancourt began quoting Scripture.

Tawnee Walling, executive director of Seacoast Outright, a support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth, said the issue of same sex marriages is particularly important for young people coping with their sexual identity. Denying gays and lesbians the right to marry is treating people like second-class citizens based on whom they love, she said.

Walling also attacked the use of Scripture by those opposed to same-sex marriage.

"As a Christian, I am particularly appalled by the utter disregard for the Gospel being thrown about," she said.

Portsmouth resident Raymond Will described himself as a "pro-gay-marriage Christian" and defined marriage as "an intense desire to look out for one another." Will also advised the commission that should anyone start quoting scripture, "please go home and read it for yourself."

Perhaps the most emotional testimony of the evening came from Didi Wallace and Carrie Blake, who have been together for 22 years.

"My family is just like every other family ... yet Didi and I have to go through hoops for other protections" afforded to traditional marriages. "We feel full marriage is the right way to go," Blake added.

Wallace broke down into tears while speaking and stressed that being gay is not a choice. "I tried to date men, but I don't want to marry a man. I love my partner."

Others, including Jack Luz of Amesbury, Mass., and John Russo of Reading, Mass., said that same-sex marriages are harmful to society for a number of reasons. Luz believes that the children of same sex marriages suffer physically and mentally and charged that gays and lesbians have higher rates of mental illness, drug and alcohol addictions and promiscuity. As evidence, he presented the commission with a copy of the book "After the Ball," which he called a "gay manifesto" that "lays out how gays will drive a wedge into this society, with the narrow end first."

The discussion took a turn when Russo took the podium. Like Luz, Russo also spoke about the "gay agenda," charging that the legalization of same-sex marriages will open the door to the explicit in-school discussion of sexual acts such as fisting, a practice he said is limited to gays and lesbians.

Rep. Vaillancourt asked Russo if, since it's believed that somewhere between two and five percent of the country's population is gay, the other 95 percent of straight people aren't engaging in fisting. This question generated some heated comments between Russo and Vaillancourt, and the meeting briefly got out of order.

"This gentleman doesn't know his sex acts. I think the record will show both homosexuals and heterosexuals engage in fisting," Vaillancourt said.

This was the second public meeting for the commission, which was created last year by the state Legislature to explore what rules the state should have in place to address same-sex marriages. Future meetings will be held in Keene and Nashua. The commission is expected to issue a final report in December.