As part of what evolved into an all-night session, the state Senate planned to take up the constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage late Wednesday night but did not cast their votes on the resolution by press time.

Facing 45 pieces of business before they were actually able to start debating the contentious amendment, many expected a Senate debate on the measure to last well into today before the chamber finally votes.

“It will be a marathon,” Anne E. Schwartz, communications director for the Senate Republicans, said.

Although Schwartz declined to say which way the Senate would vote, she indicated that Senate majority leader Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, had previously stated she had enough votes for passage of the amendment.

Senate minority leader Jon Erpenbach also believed the measure would pass, according the Wisconsin State Journal.

The Assembly easily passed the amendment by a bi-partisan vote of 68 to 27 last Friday morning after a Democratic filibuster kept representatives up all night.

Supporters of the amendment argue the legislature must take up the question of same-sex unions because of recent moves in other states permitting gay couples to marry.

“What happened in Massachusetts gave everybody cause to address this in their own state. Wisconsin is just making sure that the law is determined by the people,” Schwartz said.

Opponents to the resolution, however, claim the amendment is unneeded and divisive.

“The proposed constitutional amendment on gay marriage is nothing more than a mean-spirited and gratuitous attempt to divide our state,” Gov. Jim Doyle said in a statement.

If the Senate successfully passes the amendment, both houses of the state legislature must pass the amendment by a simple majority again in the next session before it can be put up for public referendum. Wisconsin citizens could consider the gay-marriage ban by April of 2005 at the earliest.

According to a recent Badger Poll, while 29 percent of Wisconsinites are against a constitutional amendment, a full 64 percent of residents support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

The state legislature passed a bill last year defining marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman before Gov. Doyle vetoed the legislation. The Assembly was unable to override the veto by one vote.