A proposed amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman hit the floor of the state Senate Wednesday. After an hours-long Democratic caucus and being placed at the end of a 46-bill agenda, senators prepared for a long night of heated debate.
\The present scenario, tonight, if we get to it at two or three in the morning, I anticipate it'll take hours, and I would anticipate that we wouldn't finish until sometime tomorrow morning,"" said state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison.
State Sen. David Zien, R-Eau Claire, a sponsor of the proposed amendment, said the Democrats were inefficient yesterday.
""It's obvious that they're stalling on almost every bill,"" he said.
Although the Senate has not yet debated the amendment, Zien was confident it would pass with a strong majority.
While the Democrats were in caucus, Gov. Jim Doyle issued a statement in opposition to the proposed amendment.
""The proposed constitutional amendment on gay marriage is nothing more than a mean-spirited and gratuitous attempt to divide our state,"" he said.
He added the state should focus instead on jobs and healthcare.
The proposed amendment passed the Assembly last week. If it passes the Senate, it has to go through one more consecutive legislative session and then be presented to the public in the form of a referendum.
As legislators debated the issue of same-sex marriage at the state Capitol, UW-Madison students voiced their opinions at a student forum sponsored by the Queer Student Alliance and the International Socialist Organization.
The discussion group was meant as an open forum for same-sex marriage advocates to plan the path ahead in the face of the Wisconsin Legislature's proposed constitutional amendment.
Speakers from the ISO and QSA compared anti-same-sex marriage laws to segregation and warned that advocates could not settle for civil unions. The floor then opened up for discussion.
Elizabeth Gokey, a UW-Madison freshman and ISO member, said gay marriage was an issue for socialists because it deals with equality.
""Whenever there's oppression and inequalities, we think it's wrong,"" she said.
She added that change has to come from the bottom up, and that Democrats and Republicans have no real differences on the issue.
