In 2006, Wisconsin voters, who recently elected the first openly gay U.S. senator, passed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, an issue that has come into focus on the national level at the U.S. Supreme Court.
At the time, all but one Wisconsin county voted in a referendum for that definition, which passed with 55.5 percent of the vote. The only county to vote against the amendment was Dane County, where two-thirds of voters opposed defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
Last Tuesday, Dane County was also among the top 25 counties nationwide with the highest change in Facebook profile pictures, according to a Facebook data analysis. Various Facebook profile pictures blanketed the social networking site as a way for those who supported same-sex marriage legislation to congregate.
The day before, the Human Rights Campaign pushed for Facebook members to change their profile pictures to the equal sign on a red background that symbolized support for same-sex marriage.
The picture and its many variations were likely behind the 2.7 million more, or 120 percent more, profile picture changes in the U.S. than usual, Facebook data scientist Eytan Bakshy said in the analysis.
Bakshy said many counties in the top 25 had college towns, such as Madison and the University of Wisconsin campus.
Openly gay Sen. Tammy Baldwin was the Madison-area representative in the U.S. House of Representatives before her 2012 election to the Senate. Her successor, Rep. Mark Pocan, introduced his husband to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, during a swearing-in ceremony earlier this year.
But while Dane County likely still supports same-sex marriage, questions remain regarding whether the rest of the state still opposes it.
Gov. Scott Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week same-sex marriage decisions should be left up to states, noting Wisconsin already made that decision in 2006.
“The State of Wisconsin has a position, and it’s based on the vote of the people back in 2006,” Walker told the Journal Sentinel. “We affirm that position.”
The most recent poll on the issue, released two weeks ago, did not pose a yes-or-no question to respondents, like the 2006 amendment referendum did. The amendment also says a legal status that is “identical or substantially similar” to marriage should be invalid in the state.
Instead, the Marquette Law School poll separated marriage from civil unions in Wisconsin. It found 42.4 percent of respondents agreed with same-sex marriage, 25.6 percent agreed with civil unions and 27.8 percent maintained there should be “no legal recognition” of civil unions.
Wisconsin Family Council Executive Director Julaine Appling said Wisconsinites still see marriage as a “foundational institution of our society.” Although her side was outspent seven-to-one in 2006, she said, voters supported the amendment.
“I think Wisconsin still has good, strong values,” Appling said.
But Fair Wisconsin Executive Director Katie Belanger said in an email to The Badger Herald that public opinion is “moving swiftly towards equality” for Wisconsin’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Belanger said the support could be seen in the cities that have passed domestic partner benefits for municipal workers.
“Tammy Baldwin’s victory in a statewide election in which her sexual orientation was largely a nonissue definitely signals a sea change in Wisconsin, but it’s not just that – it’s also the numerous local victories we have seen in communities across the state,” Belanger said.
