State voters say ‘I do’ to marriage amendment
Civil unions may be banned; lawsuits could follow
Traditional values trumped Wisconsin’s progressive political traditions Tuesday as the state’s voters matched the national mood and approved a state constitutional amendment on marriage.[…]
“What we’re seeing is an affirmation that Wisconsinites understand that one-man, one-woman marriage is not up for redefinition,” said Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, which supported the amendment.
She said she wasn’t surprised that Wisconsin joined the growing list of states that have passed marriage amendments. “Every time the people get to speak, they say, ‘Don’t mess with marriage,’ ” she said.
Traditional, that is, if you mean for the last couple of hundred years. Before that, marriage meant essentially that a man OWNED the woman called his wife, an arrangement heartily endorsed by that pack of fables called the Bible. You know, the book that celebrates slavery and capital punishment for adultry. Fine tradition, lady.
Mike Tate from Fair Wisconsin faces this terrible outcome with far more grace than I am here:
What I am most proud of most of all is how all of us dared to hope.
And we must not lose this hope and we cannot ignore what we have accomplished.
Because despite the results I still believe in a fair Wisconsin. I refuse to stop believing.
This debate was forced on us at a time and a place not of our choosing.
This fight against the amendment was never just about what happened today. All of us committed to a long-term struggle for equality and fairness for everyone. We cannot give up on Wisconsin, and there’s good reason not to.
We know for certain that many of the same people who voted for this amendment today are the very same people who will support equality for gay families within the next 5 or 10 years. That change might not have been on the timeline forced on us by our opponents, but we cannot ignore the fact that we have laid the foundation for long-term change in Wisconsin. Because of our work, more people in this state than ever before understand that gay families exist in this state and discrimination hurts them.
We may not have won the election, but there were so many victories along the way. We achieved many things that have drastically altered attitudes about gay people, gay families, and the way we do politics around this issue. We transformed a “gay rights” issue and made it a Wisconsin issue.
Our accomplishments are not in vain.
Wisconsin voters who succumbed to their own hate, ignorance, superstition and bigotry should be ashamed of themselves, but to feel shame for a wrong would require a level of self-awareness and openness that is plainly beyond them.
I’m terribly ashamed that I share citizenship in a state with so many people this idiotic. Sadly, we’re not alone.
Damn. We’ll keep fighting for the rights of all people.
I thought that I’d had the ability to hope beaten out of me over the past several years, but I’d let myself do it again.
It’s going to be a long, ugly struggle.
Yeah, it probably will be. But people’s minds can be changed. Ten years ago the idea that we would seriously considered the issue of gay marriage seemed far-fetched to say the least.
And, as emabarassing as it is to admit it, I’m one of the people who’s mind has been changed. When I first considered the idea, I was opposed to it. Marriage had always been for heterosexuals. Why did it need to change. Why couldn’t we leave things the way they were. It seemed kind of “icky” to me on a visceral level, but I couldn’t explain why.
Actually, it was Howard Dean in his explanation about civil unions in Vermont that started a change in my thinking. When he talked about fairness and equal rights a light bulb when off in my head.
I know a lot of gays oppose the idea of civil unions, but I think that is what the state should provide for all committed couples, no matter what their orientation. Same rights for everybody. Call it marriage if you like, or call it something else. The churches have the right to decide on their own what they want to do about the issue — and some of them will continue to be bigoted and ignorant.
The fight will go one. You are not alone. Don’t give up hope in the midst of your grief and rage.
thanks for that.
The gov’t needs to get out of the marriage business. The right is trying very hard to make marriage ONLY a “sacrament” rather than a contract granted by the gov’t. The tide of the law is against them, so they want to remove civil law from teh equation.
All unions should be civil unions: gay, straight or polyamorous. If people want “marriage” they should find a clergyman to perform the appropriate rituals, but that ritual has meaning only in the context of the party’s beliefs. Out in the secular world we all have to share, only the civil union should have any power.
Thanks for sharing your example of conversion. That is a sign of hope, and frankly the right HAS lost the culture war. Now it’s time to make sure they can’t impose their hatred and superstitions politically. It’s a battle we can win.
Interestingly, having the state only grant “civil unions” and then getting a religious marriage at the church of your choice was the solution ancient Rome adopted. Only in their case the issue was more of folks wanting to be married in a religous ceremony other than that of the state religion.
It’s the only rational compromise. Too bad religious folk can’t see, blinded by their piety, that this is a solution that protects them too.
Thanks again for another fine diary, Madman. As a former WI resident, I was disheartened to hear this passed last night (What Would LaFollette Say?), and quite frankly it really surprised me. Well, until I thought about all the lizard brain base voters out in the rural areas who probably got out to vote on this very issue. Fortunately, all attempts to bring such a resolution up here in IA have failed, but if one got on the ballot, I might well be writing the same sorts of things you did here. And that pains me immeasurably.
I agree w/many commenters here who note that it is a generational sort of shift, and that whether it occurs or not in our lifetimes, it WILL occur at some point (unless, as you wisely point out, we do not end up a police state).
Knoxville Progressive noted something I wanted to bring up … that granting civil unions to everyone should be the norm, and that if people want a religious ceremony in the church of their choice, so be it. I’ve always thought the European process made much more sense: the only valid union is the civil union (which generally occurs before the church ceremony), no matter what. You have to do the legal contract first and if you want the big churchy hoo-ha, that’s just the icing on the wedding cake.
If my husband (we arrogantly use that term just to piss people off) and I were able to get the civil union we’d likely just skip any religious ceremony and have a simple exchange of vows with family and friends. That would mean much more to us than any waving of wands, hands or incense censers. It’s the legal rights and benefits we’re being denied! That’s what is so patently unfair in the current climate. (Not that I needed to remind you of that.)
Thanks again for all the great rants you rant. I look forward to them!
thanks.
I hope someday soon you and your hubby can publicly declare your love and committment and have your community recognize and celebrate it with you.
A political win for democrats cannot make the defeat of compassion and real morality any easier to take. There is one small bit of good news in S. Dakota. The abortion ban was defeated.
Madman, whether or not you predicted this outcome correctly or not, you have my great respect for standing firm on your principles. It’s a quality that is missing for the most part in this country.
Hang in there.
Peace
SD is a good sign.
I have no illusions that a majority will ever agree w/ me in my lifetime, but the genuine left NEEDS to have a voice in the national conversation, if only to balance out the political battle and reinject some humanistic compassion back into our political sphere. Some accuse me of being a “purist”, but all I want is an open and honest and vigorous debate.
Thanks for the encouragement. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my rants and consider what I’m trying to say.
It was a sad day for gay people but with any luck it will rally us.
Time is on our side and not theirs, the youth of America doesn’t have a problem with gay people and gay marriage so as older voters die off we will see big gains. They know this and that is why they push to get these laws on the books now.
What galls me most is they use Christ to beat me down, a man who was the original non-discriminator. Talk about taking the Lord’s name in vain….. what misguided idiots they are but they will lose their hate campaign.
MM, thank you for this diary sooo much; I thought I’d have to just stay away from Boo today, so as to not rain on everyones parade, because I just am not able to celebrate like everyone, even tho I really want to.
Instead I’m shocked to have found myself in tears several times this morning. I keep seeing Caseys face, and wishing I didn’t know what I know about what his kind means to the further erosion of womens rights. And this horrid unbelievable proof that so many Americans are willing to legislate hatred and discrimination against my beloved daughters and grandaughters and friends and all of us for simply being who we are.
How can we claim to be the “land of the free”, when over 10% of our polulation lives every single day with the awareness they could run into some crazy drugged up homophobe full of righteous rage and get hurt for simply existing?
It is wonderful indeed to know there are SO many straight people who truly care and who love us and want to stand with us. I love you all so much, and would do the same for you in a flash. But even together, it is so sadly clear that there are just not enough of us yet.
I am pretty sure this is age related. It gets harder and harder to believe in things that seem to just not last, like that long fight for womens rights, or that take sooooooo long to change like homophobia.
Thanks, MM, for a place to have my real feelings today. I wish you all were close enough to hug.
well, everybody knows by now that I love nothing more than to stomp into the middle of things and start stomping out a raindance. The Vichy Dems are going to be emboldened by these results, and the continued pandering to hateful and ignorant white suburbanites and exurbanites is only going to get worse.
Demographic trends probably show eventual change, but I doubt I’ll live to see it, assuming that we don’t end up w/ a police state.
When you rescue another person from a car accident and take them to the hospital, the first thing the medical staff does is stop the bleeding.
The actual surgery and healing…well, that will take a while.
That’s how I feel.
I am greatly relieved today. Maryland did not elect a vapid wingnut as senator. South Dakota beat back an abortion ban and California defeated parental consent. Minimum wage ballot initiatives rocked in state after state. And of course, the House and the Senate–if Webb’s lead holds–will be under new management.
I cheer that. Quite frankly, I still can’t quite believe it. I’m still pinching myself.
But there’s just SO much work to do, because American citizens are being discriminated against. The people who fulminate against gay marriage REALLY don’t want it…it seems they really prefer the closet; really prefer to try to have their cake and eat it, too. It’s not sane or healthy or responsible. And that’s fine, if they want to live their lives that way.
Just leave everyone else the hell alone.
Don’t blame the out gays and lesbians for being sane and healthy and…friggin normal! But even for the creeps–I want to see their rights respected. I am so tired of the homophobia…just sick to death of it. Sick to death of the hypocrisy and lies and deceit. It’s an invisible weight that just spiritually attacks me and infects every one every time it rears its ugly head.
And selfishly: If Scribe is not protected, then neither am I. If Wilfred is not protected, then neither am I.
I’m so tired until I can’t see straight. I’ve got to get some food, and then I’m turnin’ in.
As relieved as I am, I haven’t forgotten.
Thank you for this AP.
I feel better tonight. More hopeful. Ready to get back to work.
Don’t mention it! After all, it’s the truth.
And I forgot about AZ, of all places, beating back their anti-gay ballot initiative. All this talk about “conservatism still winning” or whatever is just that…talk.
It’s small comfort, I know. But it’s something.
Meanwhile, I guess I’ll stay out of Michigan these days…
This is a sad day, but not the end of this struggle. It is one point on a continuum. If Mr.Tate can still manage to find hope, so must we. I believe that time is on his/our side.
BTW, Arizona voted against a similar resolution.
Got a link for that? CNN says they’re still counting but I’d love to know that we won one for sure somewhere.
but it looks the ban is going to be defeated (all the papers here are saying that it lost, which kinda surprised me):
From the AZ SOS:
583,830 51.4% – No
551,231 48.6% – Yes
100% reporting, but apparently there are outstanding early ballots. All the anti-immigrant initiatives passed, however, by upwards of a 75/25 margin – I’m sick to my stomach.
I’m sorry Manny. That’s got to be a terrible feeling.
Thanks for the link, Manny.
Yeah, emotionally, I’m more or less where you are. Frankly, I don’t much understand all the optimism going around since it seems rather clear to me that this election doesn’t represent an American embrace of liberal policy so much as it seems to suggest that they’re just fed up with BushCo’s inability to be evil in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.
I’m so sorry that we lost on such viscerally important issues, mi amigo. We will keep working. Real change often builds slow for what seems like forever, and then, watershed.
I was trying to find the place where I read it, but too late.
Thanks boran2. đŸ™‚
hopefully immigrants, women and GLBT people will see that they ALL need to work together to fight for equal protection under the law, for a civil society that is based on HUMANITY, not the various isms that divide and degrade. Out of all of this mess we’re in, I hope that those who want justice for themselves see that they only way to get there is to fight for justice for all.
Keep up the fight, my friend. It may take generations, but we can prevail for the better angels of our natures.
Right on the mark, Madman:
We need your voice and your rants! It is much too easy for us to slip into complacency and “they” are always out there waiting to slither back into power. Please keep it up.