On Nov. 7 — well, perhaps it was Nov. 8 — I sat in a fairly remote corner of northeastern Wisconsin and wondered, "What's next?" I had spent the last four months working to get a member of the Wisconsin Assembly elected, and for the first time in months I had no idea of what I was going to do next.
College Democrats faced a similar situation. What are we going to do next? How are we going to capitalize on the successes and excitement of the election season and keep students involved? How can we best continue the positive change we fostered on Election Day?
We figured we had a few options. Perhaps we should address the problems facing our own community through service work projects, or shift our focus toward policies affecting students.
After much discussion, we eventually decided that now was the best time to make our voices heard at the other end of State Street. The complete change in the political makeup of the state Legislature gives students a stronger ability to influence policy. Advocating for student interests through examining policy is one of many exciting things the College Democrats will do in the next few months. And we're starting with an issue that brought many students to the polls Nov. 7: the constitutional ban on civil unions and gay marriage.
Marriage equality is an important issue to all college students. The strong opposition to the amendment and the massive margins in favor of Democratic candidates who opposed the ban clearly demonstrate this fact. Most students see the amendment as an unnecessary harm that directly attacks friends, roommates, classmates, family and professors, and in some cases, themselves.
But that is not the only reason students care about the ban on civil unions and gay marriage: The second sentence of the amendment bans the state from establishing anything "substantially similar" to marriage for unmarried couples. This means that the University of Wisconsin is not able to set up domestic partnership benefits for any of its employees, including professors who bring in significant amounts of money in research grants. In fact, we have already lost professors because of UW's inability to grant these benefits, and many more may leave in the coming years due to the results of Nov. 7.
However, one state legislator wants to change this dreadful aberration, and in the process potentially prevent its devastating outcomes on UW. State Sen. John Erpenbach, D-Middleton, has proposed another constitutional amendment, an amendment to the amendment that passed last month. Sen. Erpenbach's proposal would ban discrimination, opening the door for the state to allow domestic partnership benefits and civil unions.
This amendment is an attempt to restore some of the rights banned Nov. 7, not only for the thousands of Wisconsinites who are gay or lesbian, but also for everyone who is unmarried. It seeks to strengthen one of Wisconsin's foundational ideals: Discrimination has no home in our state.
However, the amendment may face a difficult road. Sen. Erpenbach's amendment isn't guaranteed passage. In fact, it will require a majority vote in both the state Senate and the state Assembly twice before it can be considered by the voters. And if it were to pass, it could directly conflict with the amendment passed this November, which may leave the ultimate decision up to a court.
Should Sen. Erpenbach's amendment prevail, it could allow UW to join the ranks of all the other Big Ten universities in providing the same benefits to all of its employees. As College Democrats, we were completely, emphatically opposed to the amendment banning civil unions and marriage. However, we haven't completely decided our official position on Sen. Erpenbach's amendment. We'd like your help to do that.
Come to our meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 2650 Humanities and hear Sen. Erpenbach talk about his amendment. He will provide more details on its exact language, intentions and its chances at Legislative approval, and he will engage students in discussion on all of these topics. We're also interested in hearing from you what other policy issues you as students care about. Is it tuition, health care, environmental issues or something we haven't thought of yet? Now is our chance to make the most of our election success, and you can play a role in these important decisions.
Get involved today, and we can seize the opportunity to make that change happen. On Election Day, voters and politicians across the state heard the echoes of a student "youthquake" that ultimately pushed for positive change. Let's not wait until 2008 for them to remember again.
Kira Brenner is a junior majoring in political science. She is the Vice-Chair of the UW-Madison College Democrats, and previously managed the campaign of state Representative Tom Nelson.
