While a recent Badger Poll indicated that 64 percent of Wisconsin residents disapprove of laws allowing members of the same sex to marry, support for gay marriage seems strong in the city of Madison.

Opposition to the amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman that recently passed the state legislature can be felt stronger in the city than in other parts of the state, Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, a pro-amendment group, said.

“The largest outcry against the amendment has come from Madison, as well as a strong outcry in Milwaukee,” Appling said. “In no way does that speak for the state as a whole.”

Appling attributed stronger opposition to the amendment in Madison to a larger gay population and the presence of several pro-gay marriage groups, such as Action Wisconsin, that base their operations out of Madison.

Additional evidence of Madison’s opposition to the legislature’s amendment is found in the city’s leadership. The Madison City Council passed a resolution March 2 in support of gay marriage rights as a protest of the state amendment.

Ald. Austin King, District 8, indicated the state as a whole may be slower than Madison in opposing the amendment, but believes in time the state will join the consensus in Madison.

“I think the state is going to realize that a constitutional amendment is an extreme measure,” King said, adding constituents in his district are “overwhelmingly” against the amendment. “A lot of folks, even if they oppose gay marriage, are going to realize this amendment puts domestic partnership benefits directly at risk.”

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk have also condemned the amendment, saying its vague language could deprive gay couples of domestic-partner benefits.

University of Wisconsin students from other parts of the state have noticed stronger support for gay marriage in Madison.

UW sophomore Peter Koczan, a native of Sheboygan, indicated there is a rift between public opinion in the two cities.

“All of the editorials I’ve read [in Sheboygan] are ardently against gay marriage,” Koczan said. “Here I see much more support.”

Many cited Madison’s long liberal, progressive tradition as a key factor in the city’s increased resistance to the amendment.

“Although I don’t have any hard evidence [showing less support for the amendment in Madison], I would be shocked if that wasn’t the case,” UW political science professor Donald Downs said, noting Madison is a “pocket of support” for gay marriage in a state typified by “broad support” for the amendment.

However, Steve Bass, press secretary for Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, indicated it may not be accurate to say the city of Madison is in favor of gay marriage, because heavy support is mainly found on the downtown isthmus.

Downs concurred, citing the UW campus and near east side as being areas with a particularly strong history of supporting liberal issues such as legalized gay marriage.