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Letter to the Editor — 11/20/03

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Same-sex marriage decision the right one for Doyle

I want to praise the governor for vetoing the “Defense of Marriage Act,” and I am grateful that the Wisconsin Assembly did not override it. I am currently a social work student at UW-Madison and was against the bill that attempts to limit Wisconsin marriages to only male/female couples. Furthermore, I believe it is time that Wisconsin goes a step further in its progressive tradition of politics and be a leader in the United States in making same-sex marriages legal.

Not only was Bill AB 475 (SB 233) redundant to our current state law of marriage, it was a divisive bill that targets a certain population — LGBTs — by virtue of exclusion. A foundational value of the National Association of Social Workers is that of social justice. Currently, the 8,000-plus same-sex couples in Wisconsin who admitted to living together on the last census are unjustly discriminated against, on the basis of sexual orientation, by being denied the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts.

Members of our human family here in Wisconsin do not have equal access to all internationally recognized human rights such as: the right to be next-of-kin, share/enjoy housing in peace, equitable tax and benefit treatment, child custody and matters of personal health, finance and civic life. Contrast this with our state’s northern European roots, where several countries there have legalized marriage and guarantee economic benefits to couples both with and without children.

Our children are another reason why same-sex marriage needs to be legalized. Over the last two decades, researchers have published a host of studies that have concluded that “No important differences exist between children raised by homosexual parents and children raised by heterosexual parents.” (The New York Times, July 17, 2001). However, children remain vulnerable if their parents — who want to marry and provide that stability — are not afforded joint parenting rights that other committed couples enjoy.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that maturity, love and commitment — foundations of marriage — are blind to sexual orientation. If supporters of the Defense of

Marriage Act were serious about what they say they are (defending the sanctity of marriage), then wouldn’t we see a bill that addressed true threats to marriage, such as the high divorce rate in this country or the appalling incidence of domestic violence? I hope with the defeat of AB 475, ignorance and prejudice have also been defeated in this current Wisconsin Legislature. I would like to see a return to our progressive political tradition and see Wisconsin as a national leader in championing equal human rights to all its citizens.

Christopher J. Aamodt

chrisaamodt@yahoo.com