With decisions in the last week in favor of same-sex marriage in Iowa, Vermont and the District of Columbia, many are raising questions about the state of gay rights in Wisconsin.
The Iowa Supreme Court voted unanimously on Friday to legalize gay and lesbian marriage, making it the third state in the U.S. to allow same-sex couples to wed. Iowa is also the first state in the Midwest to pass such legislation.
On Tuesday, Vermont became the fourth state in the nation to approve same-sex marriage, but was the first to do so by the Legislature instead of the Supreme Court. The Legislature overrode Republican Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of the law.
The D.C. council also voted Tuesday to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2003 when the Supreme Court decided it was unconstitutional to allow only heterosexual couples to marry. Five years later, Connecticut became the second state to allow same-sex marriage.
In his budget, Gov. Jim Doyle proposed to give limited domestic partner benefits. Same-sex couples would gain legal rights such as being able to visit their partners in the hospital and make end-of-life decisions for their partner, according to Lee Sensenbrenner, spokesperson for Doyle.
“Basically [the proposal] is just a set of legal protections that would allow various legal protections that a committed couple might expect to have,” Sensenbrenner said.
Glenn Carlson, executive director of Fair Wisconsin, applauded Iowa and Vermont for the measures they have taken towards greater equality for all citizens.
“The unanimous decision in Iowa and this act of the Vermont Legislature recognize the importance of allowing someone in a caring, committed relationship to care for and be responsible for their partner,” Carlson said.
Carlson added the proposed limited domestic partnerships in Wisconsin allow a caring, committed couple to have some basic protections they need to care for each other.
Julaine Appling, CEO of Wisconsin Family Council, said approval of same-sex marriage is not a smart choice for any state because it destroys the definition of marriage and family and is harmful for future generations.
Appling also said extensive social studies research concludes that the best environment for nurturing children is for them to be raised by a married mother and father.
She added though not all married couples need to have families, they should model what a family traditionally looks like.
Kirsten Kukowski, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said that approval of gay marriage would be wrong for the state because citizens already passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage two years ago.
“Wisconsin voters overwhelmingly favored a constitutional amendment banning state recognition of gay marriage and any type of civil union similar to marriage,” Kukowski said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald. “These issues are best left to the people.”
