As I was perusing through the news of the past week, I found an article that shocked me. With the celebrity trash and sensationalism that encompass too much of the news, it is difficult for me not to do a double take when it comes to a news article or editorial piece. Last Thursday, when I read an editorial piece in the Tomah Journal that supported the fight for gay rights, I was absolutely floored. The editorial board for this newspaper argued that opinions about issues such as race and sexuality change over time. The article used the example that a ban on interracial marriage would have passed 50 years ago without a doubt, whereas a similar referendum today would be almost unthinkable. In the elections last November, the 18-to-29 age group in Wisconsin actually opposed the gay marriage ban, and it will be our generation over time that will make full gay rights possible in the state. Many of you may have only a vague idea where Tomah even is in Wisconsin. Tomah is a small city of 8,419 residents situated where Interstates 90 and 94 split, 100 miles northwest of Madison. Tomah is surrounded by cranberry bogs, public hunting grounds and Fort McCoy. It boasts that it is home to the Wisconsin Dairyland Super National Truck and Tractor Pull, the Monroe County Fair and nearby Amish settlements. In the midterm elections, Monroe County, where Tomah is located, fell in line with most voters in the rural parts of the state: Gov. Jim Doyle barely edged out Rep. Mark Green with 49 percent of the votes to Green's 48 percent. Sixty-six percent voted for the gay-marriage referendum, which was well above the 59 percent overall "yes" result in Wisconsin. What stunned me so much were not the solid arguments in the editorial but the fact that the editorial board for a small-town newspaper in Wisconsin actually printed an article supporting gay rights. Being from a small town in Wisconsin, I know an editorial like this one can set off a firestorm against the local newspaper with talk around dinner tables, church socials and the truck stop diners bashing the "liberal elite" of the radical town paper. This may seem bizarre to someone from Chicago or New York, but in small towns, rocking the boat with articles such as this truly can sow discontent against the newspaper. With Lake Mendota to the north and Madison on the other three sides of campus, the University of Wisconsin often becomes isolated from the rest of the state except for the occasional trip home to visit family. We, in Madison, too often forget that we are only a small part of the state. According to U.S. Census 2005 population estimates, Dane County's 458,106 residents compose only 8.3 percent of the state's population of 5,536,201. In addition, 1,698,538 Wisconsinites live in rural areas of the state, almost four times the number of residents of Wisconsin's most liberal county. It is no wonder why those living in Juneau, Trempealeau and Oconto counties consider Madison to be the small radical elite trying to push its values through the Capitol. Whether the residents of Madison like it or not, when it comes to referendums on social issues such as gay marriage, Madison needs the rest of the state more than the rest of the state needs us. It is difficult and often nearly impossible to convince people to change their stance on controversial issues such as same-sex marriage. The battle for civil rights is still going on 40 years later, and equality for women still can be a divisive topic despite the 19th Amendment passed 87 years ago. In both cases, it was the support of whites and men who voted for civil-rights legislation and women's suffrage. In the same way, it will be the rural areas and small towns and cities of Wisconsin that will finally grant same-sex couples the right to marry. The editorial in the Tomah Journal is important not just for its content; a newspaper in the middle of the state has given hope to what many in Madison considered to be a nearly overwhelming setback in last November's election. Not every newspaper in Wisconsin would be brave enough to print such a radical statement and some will never agree with its stance. But for those who support gay rights across the state, however, there is the prospect that attitudes across the state will in fact change. It will be the residents of towns like Tomah — not Madison — who will determine the future of gay rights. With slowly shifting attitudes in enclaves of small towns in Wisconsin, it will be these residents who will bring hope back to those who champion the rights of every resident in the state. Jeff Carnes ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in linguistics.