Tanner Wray and Karl Debus-Lopez have the longest relationship of any of their friends, having met 20 years ago this week.
This June they were legally wed in Canada, and earlier they celebrated a holy union ceremony at their Unitarian church, but as a same-sex couple in the United States they have few legal rights.
Wray and Debus-Lopez, both employed by UW-Madison libraries, will speak about their relationship today at the Capitol as part of a slate of events designed to build support for same-sex legal unions and opposition to a recent assembly bill that organizers say needlessly attacks gay couples.
More than 200 people from around Wisconsin will meet with their legislators as part of an event dubbed Legal Equality Action Day, said Chris Ott, executive director of Action Wisconsin.
Representatives will pressure legislators for three things, Ott said-support of civil marriages for same-sex couples, extending state employees' health insurance benefits to same-sex partners and opposition to Assembly Bill 475, which would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
According to Ott, marriage is currently defined as a union between husband and wife.
\There's nothing unclear about the language right now, and they're purely using this as an attack on gay and lesbian people in our state,"" he said.
""It's not necessary at all,"" Wray said of AB 475, sometimes called the defense of marriage act. ""I'm not sure what it is they think they need to defend in terms of marriage. I don't understand why our relationship, our marriage, is threatening.""
Gay couples lack a number of legal benefits typically granted to husbands and wives, from obtaining a joint fishing license to passing on social security benefits, Ott said. Additionally, gay couples face obstacles to adoption and one can be turned away from visiting a partner in the hospital because he or she is viewed as a legal stranger.
""I guess that is the main thing that we're hoping to accomplish [from LEAD]-to show [legislators] that this is an important issue, that it's a matter of basic fairness, and that every couple and every family deserves to be treated equally,"" Ott said.
According to Ott, 30 out of 33 state senators have scheduled meetings with LEAD representatives.
In addition to speaking at a press conference, Wray and Debus-Lopez will meet with state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, and state Rep. Spenser Black, D-Madison, to discuss their relationship and lobby for same-sex unions.
""We should have to same rights. We should be able to marry and have the same benefits as any heterosexual couple,"" Debus-Lopez said.
