Members of the Wisconsin state Assembly debated far into the night on an amendment to the state constitution that would outlaw gay marriage, though supporters of the measure were confident they would have the votes to pass the resolution eventually.
As of press time, representatives had not yet voted on the measure.
Though several Democratic representatives spoke in opposition to the amendment, a large majority of the Assembly is expected to vote for the proposal.
“We’ve got the votes,” said Steve Bass, press secretary to Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo. “Half the Democrats will vote for it and all the Republicans will vote for it, so it will pass by a large bipartisan majority.”
To become law, the amendment must pass by a simple majority in both legislative houses in two consecutive sessions before being approved by public referendum.
Opponents to the proposal argued that the state Legislature should be tending to more important issues than spending its time defining marriage as solely between one man and one woman. Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, called the amendment a “weapon of mass distraction,” and argued that placing religious values in the Wisconsin constitution was wrong.
“We shouldn’t legislate those values into our constitution. That is not appropriate. That is not the American way,” he said on the Assembly floor.
However, supporters of the amendment argue that Wisconsin citizens should have a voice in how marriage is defined in the state.
“What this debate is about is how we settle disagreement in a democracy,” Bass said, arguing legislators must give the people, rather than activist judges, the power to define marriage. “The fundamental difference tonight is that supporters trust voters enough to put the decision in their hands.”
Sixty-four percent of Wisconsin residents support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, while 29 percent are against an amendment, according to a recent Badger Poll.
Protesters for and against the Wisconsin amendment camped out at the Capitol while the Assembly was in session Thursday morning.
“I specifically came out because I wanted to show that people who are in relationships with people of the ‘opposite sex’ do support gay rights, including gay marriage,” Jamie Yuenger, a UW senior, said.
However, some students on campus feel that marriage should be formally defined as exclusively between a man and a woman. Denell Woller, president of the UW Catholic Student Union, said that because of religious reasons, she personally is against gay marriage.
“I think that choosing to be homosexual is a sin, and I don’t think we should condone it by allowing (gays) to be married and giving them legal rights,” she said.
Woller argues marriage is not off-limits for gays, as long as they look in the right direction.
“I really think that if they want to be married, they should look at a member of the opposite sex for that,” she said.
As the marriage amendment in Wisconsin continues to build steam, a similar measure at the federal level has also been gathering momentum. President Bush recently made an announcement asking Congress to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would outlaw same-sex unions.
The issue of gay marriage has come to the national forefront as several states have begun to reverse the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Most notably, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state must allow same-sex couples to marry to comply with the Massachusetts constitution.
