Protesters March to Capitol for Gay Marriage

By Ryan Masse

State Reporter

The Civil Marriage Equality Coalition held a rally on the Capitol steps Saturday afternoon in support of civil marriage rights for all citizens in Wisconsin.

The rally began with protesters gathering on Library Mall before marching along State Street, and culminating with speeches on the Capitol steps from various community leaders.

One speaker, Mary Beth Deetz, spoke of applying for and being denied a marriage license in February, eliciting boos from the audience. Deetz said she applied for the license to “raise awareness of the discrimination” she faces every day.

Deetz said the constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman in Wisconsin was not an issue of marriage but rather homophobia. She likened homophobia to a disease, citing the amendment as a symptom.

Condemnation of the constitutional amendment was a common theme among the speakers. The amendment, which passed both houses of the legislature by a wide margin last session, would need to be passed in the next legislative session before being placed on a public referendum. Polls have shown support for the amendment among a majority of Wisconsinites.

District 27 Supervisor on the Dane County Board, Kyle Richmond, compared the denial of rights in the gay community with the Dr. Seuss book The Sneetches, in which Sneetches with stars on their stomachs are considered better than Sneetches without stars.

Richmond assured the crowd: “Some of us are going to get our stars one day.”

Chris Ott, executive director of Action Wisconsin, expressed gratitude for strong support of marriage equality in Dane County, but articulated the need to raise support in other parts of the state. Ott also urged the need to vote on the public referendum if the amendment passes next session, worrying the referendum will suffer from low voter turnout in April 2005.

Many speakers criticized the Republican Party for leading the fight to deny civil marriage equality.

“The right-wing is fighting tooth and nail to maintain second-class citizenship among the gay community,” Katie Ray of the International Socialist Organization said.

The Democratic Party, however, was not immune to criticism. Ben Manski, co-chair of the national Green Party, questioned where presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry stands on the issue of civil marriage.

“I have a question for you,” Manski said. “Does John Kerry know what he wants? I’ll tell you what he knows…he knows he wants your vote.”

The Civil Marriage Equality Coalition is a new student organization formed this semester to fight for civil marriage rights in Wisconsin. Chair Kevin Schutz said he was reasonably pleased with the turnout for the rally, the organization’s first major event.

“[Rallies] are important to get the word out, get people motivated,” Martin said. “Many people are wishy-washy and unsure on the issue, so as we want our message to be heard by as many people as we can [and] inform people they should vote.”