Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage didn't stop Holly Nicewander and Rebecka Blose from exchanging vows on the Diag last Saturday.

The mock wedding was part of a semester-long project for a class in the Residential College called "Moral Choice in Context." For the project, each student group chooses a social justice issue and creatively presents its views.

Although not true lovers, Blose and Nicewander chose an issue in response to Proposal 2, which voters approved last November, effectively banning same-sex marriage in the state of Michigan. This inspired Nicewander and Blose to take their project even further by holding a mock wedding to raise support on campus for same-sex marriage.

About 30 people attended the imaginary couple's mock wedding to sign a petition to legalize gay marriage from People for the American Way, a left-wing civil liberties advocacy group.

Minutes after the clock struck noon, Nicewander and Blose slowly walked up the stairs of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, followed by their bridesmaids. The audience, mostly the students' family, friends and instructors, watched the couple and smiled.

RC freshman Chris Deeg played the role of the pastor and pronounced Nicewander and Blose wives, using a traditional wedding sermon.

"May God bless you and keep you," Deeg said as he closed the ceremony. "I present to you Holly Therese Nicewander and Rebecka Marie Blose: wives."

Deeg purposefully included God in his sermon, saying he wanted to emphasize the equality that is valued in this country and in Christianity. Everyone should be able to get married, he added.

RC sophomore Lindsey McCartney, who was one of Nicewander's bridesmaids, said she believes that same-sex marriage would not stir as large a political debate if not for the religious right.

"(Same-sex marriage) should be legalized," she said, adding that many objections to gay marriage are because of religious beliefs. "This country is secular."

Nicewander said that she doesn't see any difference between heterosexual marriages and gay marriages. In both cases, people marry for love, she said.

"I don't see why one is supported and the other is not," she said.

Seeing the ceremony on the steps, LSA senior Kyle Chase stopped on his way into the library to observe the event.

He was intrigued. "Stopping was an opportunity to look at them both in the eye and smile," he said. "(It was a) chance to love Holly and Rebecka in a small but important way," even though the situation was choreographed.

He also said that it was a courageous act to make a statement in front of everyone on the Diag, even though he is a Christian and does not believe homosexuality "is in compliance with God's standard for holiness."

Despite his religious beliefs, he questioned the government's role in banning same-sex marriage.

"As a government institution, why should marriage between homosexuals or heterosexuals be any different?" he said.

"If the government can 'bless' heterosexual marriages, it should be able to do the same for homosexual marriages."

The class instructor, Hank Greenspan, said that he supported the students' decision in presenting this issue.