On Nov. 7, many women will go to the polls to vote in favor of the gay marriage ban. Years ago, however, women did not have that right. The majority of society once thought that giving women the right to vote was dangerous and radical, and that it would endanger traditions that were the pillars of society and order.
If it were not for progressives and liberals, people with the enlightenment and foresight to see outside the bounds of society, traditions and even the Constitution, perhaps women would still be sitting at home on election night waiting for their husbands to return.
Now, with the proposed gay marriage ban, we as a country, and more particularly a state, are faced with denying equal rights to another group of people. However, we also are given the opportunity to progress as a society by voting it down.
This amendment is not meant to ban gay marriage temporarily or for a few years, but indefinitely. By voting against the ban, we will be keeping ourselves from allowing present social norms and traditions from boxing us in forever.
Some of the most significant and molding moments in U.S. history were made when the limits of society, law and even the Bible were pushed, such as abolition and the civil rights movement. In fact, the very founding of our nation was based on the principles of enlightenment and progressivism.
Brenda Plummer, a civil rights history professor at UW-Madison, said, ""Throughout modern American history, the general tendency has been to expand civil rights and liberties. The ban on gay marriage is a reversal of this democratic tradition.""
But every time these issues of equality were originally raised, the champions of them were met with intense and outraged opposition. The Suffragettes, for example, were at first thought to be radical and dangerous by the majority of U.S. citizens.
If it were not for these radical thinkers, though, steps toward equality would never have been accomplished. One wonders if women would ever have gotten the vote if it were left up to conservative thinkers.
And now, how do we as a nation look back on those conservative thinkers? Those, for instance, who were opposed to women's rights and civil rights? We think of them as oppressors, as cruel and ""medieval"" in their thinking. But now, our state wishes to oppress the rights of another group.
In a hundred years from now, when society has become enlightened to the fact that everyone deserves equal rights and to be equal in the eyes of the law, we will be remembered as ""barbaric"" if we pass this ban.
But if we vote down this ban, perhaps we will be looked back on as a state that led the way in equality and progressivism. We will be seen as a state that reached enlightenment before the rest of the nation.
Those opposed to gay marriage, proponents of the ban, argue that same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, and worse, sinful.
Well, we redefine the Constitution to make it more inclusive. We redefine marriage to make it about love and not exclusivity, just as we redefined the vote to make it about human rights and not elitism.
We can also redefine the way we interpret the Bible, as society has done many times in the past. The Bible makes it clear that women are meant to be subordinate to men, yet today we expect equality of the sexes.
Now, another group of people wants equal rights. It is time for those of us who are lucky enough to have equal rights to give it to others. Many voters Nov. 7 would not be able to enter a polling place if it were not for others fighting for them in the past. It is now time for the voters to fight for the rights of others.
