Students seeking to learn how to educate peers about the upcoming constitutional ban on same sex marriage and civil unions amendment met Wednesday night, at an event sponsored by Students for Equality.
Tonight, what we're trying to do is to educate students and give them the tools they need to go around campus and give a smart idea of what this amendment actually does to the University,\ said Eli Judge, spokesperson for Students for Equality.
The amendment, passed twice through the legislature and set to appear on the upcoming November 7 ballot would fundamentally alter Wisconsin's treatment of same sex couples, according to Liz Sanger, a UW-Madison senior. Sangerproceeded to present the specific language for the amendment.
""Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.""
Students for Equality, a group started last fall as an offshoot of Fair Wisconsin, sponsored the night as an opportunity to coach UW-Madison students on how to talk about the issue around campus. Chris Bjorkman, a member of Students for Equality, outlined the night's goals.
""The specific purpose of this training is, first of all, would be to give students an understanding of what this amendment means,"" Bjorkman said. ""The second goal is teach them how it works on a university level. The third goal is how to converse intelligently on the subject.""
After three speakers from both Students for Equality and Fair Wisconsin weighed in on the amendment, the audience parsed and discussed a template speech designed to ""give them a feel for what [the debate] is like,"" according to Judge.
""This practice will actually help them talk to people in fluid one-on-one conversation,"" he said.
Sanger said she agreed and articulated how important voting against this amendment would be to Wisconsin's legacy of encouraging civil liberties.
""If we say ‘no' to this amendment we will be the first state in the United States to vote something like this down,"" Sanger said.
""It will be a huge victory for LGBT rights across the country, and especially significant here in Wisconsin because we've always been a leader when it comes to civil rights and especially LGBT rights,"" Sanger said.
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