A recent Badger Poll confirms Wisconsinites’ support for a state constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage, but the results leave support for a similar ban on civil unions unclear.
Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said they support an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman.
Support for an amendment rose when language excluding civil unions was dropped. In that case, 66 percent of Wisconsin residents said they would support the amendment, while 28 percent said they would not.
When asked whether they would favor an amendment banning civil unions, support for the proposal by Wisconsin residents dropped by 11 percentage points to 53 percent.
Such views by Wisconsinites may prove significant in light of the current debate over the current marriage amendment. The proposed amendment moving through the state legislature and into Wisconsin’s constitution would ban both gay marriage and civil unions in the state.
According to co-author of the bill, Rep. Mark Gundrum, R?New Berlin, marriage and its state advantages should be reserved for the traditional unions between one man and one woman.
“Marriage is more than just a basketful of government benefits. It is the cornerstone of our society,” Gundrum said in a release.
A portion of the marriage amendment reads, “A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”
The amendment has passed both houses of the state legislature, by a vote of 20 to 13 in the Senate and a 68 to 27 vote in the Assembly. The proposal must pass both houses again in the next consecutive session before being placed on public referendum in April 2005.
The Badger Poll was conducted between March 23 and 31 by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center. It is co-sponsored by The Capital Times and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Five hundred Wisconsin residents were chosen at random and surveyed. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
