Amending our values

The Wisconsin State Assembly is set to have the final vote necessary by the legislature to officially write hate into the Wisconsin Constitution with the upcoming vote on the amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions. Accepting this amendment would mean Wisconsin has amended its values to say some people just don't deserve health care and benefits or the right to spend their life with the person they love. It would also accept many potential problems with other laws.

The amendment language goes a lot farther than banning gay marriage and could have serious implications on many laws in our state. The language for this amendment is far too broad to just ban gay marriages. Similarly broad amendments on this issue in other states have already started posing problems in domestic violence cases, child custody laws and domestic partner benefits.

For example, judges in Ohio have dismissed domestic abuse charges against men who beat up their girlfriends because the state's civil union and gay marriage ban prohibits legal recognition of any non-married couple.

The proposed amendment will also put the health insurance and other benefits of domestic partners in jeopardy. So how about we rename this amendment?

How about "Pre-Married Couple Right To Abuse Act"? The righties could market it to abusive men and women before the vote to get their support. "Vote yes before your right to beat up your boyfriend or girlfriend is muddied up with legal protections for them!"

How about the "Health Care Savings Act"? The righties could market it to local governments and businesses to get their support. "Vote yes if you want a way to save money on health care costs by denying coverage to partners but want to have someone else to blame!"

Unfortunately, the possibilities are endless.

Our state has always been a leader on value issues. Our nation used to treat another group of people as second-class citizens without as many rights as others. Those people? Women. But Wisconsin led the way in giving them the right to vote and many other rights as well. Our nation used to treat African-Americans as non-citizens but overall our state was eventually on the right side of that fight too.

It's time for our state to lead again and show the nation that we value everyone in our state and give them all the same rights under the law by rejecting the proposed amendment to ban gay marriages and civil unions.