Last Tuesday was a historic night for progressives in Wisconsin. Gov. Jim Doyle was convincingly re-elected, and Democrats captured the state Senate and picked up eight seats in the state Assembly.
Nevertheless, the much-maligned constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions passed 59 to 41 percent. Though it is understandable for supporters of the Fair Wisconsin campaign to be disappointed after all of their hard work, they should take comfort in the silver linings of defeat.
First of all, the average victory percentage for these amendments in other states through 2005 was 71 percent. Last week, nine states had similar amendments on their ballots, and the average victory percentage was down to 64 percent. From that point of view, Wisconsin's yes vote of just 59 percent is quite encouraging.
While it's unfortunate that Wisconsin won't be the first state in the nation to reject this kind of amendment—that honor goes to Arizona—the statistics don't lie. There is movement, albeit slow, on this issue, and that movement is not in the Christian Right's direction.
Second of all, in spite of the expectation that marriage amendments boost Republican turnout, Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Green finished 14 points worse than the amendment did.
Of the other states that had amendments on the ballot, Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee and Wisconsin elected Democratic governors. Virginia, Wisconsin and nearly Tennessee elected Democratic senators. South Dakota re-elected its Democratic at-large congresswoman. Of the nine states with amendments only the Republican strongholds of Alabama, Idaho and South Carolina failed to elect any Democrats statewide.
What's the point? The point is that gay marriage isn't galvanizing GOP voters the way it used to. In Wisconsin, voters were willing to vote for both an amendment and for a governor who opposed that amendment.
Marriage amendments are only useful to the Republican Party if they succeed in getting Republicans elected to office. Contrary to popular belief, most GOP politicians are not bigots but rather opportunists who practice gay-bashing politics because it wins them votes from the right-wing base. But at least in Wisconsin, voters decided that, though they may not be ready to support gay marriage, they don't see it as a deciding factor in choosing a candidate. That is progress.
Marriage or no marriage, Democrats now control both the governorship and the state Senate, to say nothing of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. That means Democrats control the agenda for the next two years. At least temporarily, the era of using gay families as political footballs is over.
Finally, progressive activists should take stock of how far they have moved this issue in the long-term. A decade ago, gay marriage wasn't on the political radar at all. Now, Massachusetts has legalized it, Vermont and Connecticut allow civil unions and California, Maine, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. offer domestic partner benefits.
The progress isn't limited to so-called ""blue"" states. Arizona, South Dakota and Virginia all voted twice for George W. Bush. But last week, Arizona voted down a discriminatory constitutional amendment and South Dakota just barely passed its amendment, 52 to 48 percent.
The first official action of Virginia's Democratic governor, Tim Kaine, after being inaugurated, was to sign an executive order prohibiting the state hiring office from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. His approval rating is 69 percent.
The passage of Wisconsin's marriage amendment is a temporary setback for progressives and a fleeting victory for the Religious Right. But there is a wave forming in America today, and it isn't the same wave that swept Democrats into control of Congress last week. This wave is a wave of acceptance and tolerance, a wave of enlightenment that prejudice and ignorance will be unable to withstand.
Homosexuality is becoming more acknowledged and more accepted every day in society, if not yet in the legal statutes. Fair Wisconsin may have come up short in 2006, but, sooner or later, a day will inevitably come when gay people will no longer be subject to discrimination and mean-spirited attempts to deny them equal protection under the law.
That day will not be today, but because of Fair Wisconsin and all of its courageous supporters both liberal and conservative, the day will come. It's only a question of when.
