The Wisconsin State Legislature will be considering an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman and prohibiting recognition of "a legal status identical or substanitally similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals," e.g., domestic partnerships and civil unions. This measure could threaten existing rights and benefits of same-gender couples.

Purpose:
As Christians for Equality in Wisconsin, we pledge to educate the Wisconsin electorate about the fundamental equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and to oppose the proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution which would not only exclude Wisconsin’s LGBT citizens from civil marriage, but would also deny the possibility of civil unions and could take
away hard-won existing rights, benefits and privileges. This amendment would enshrine inequality and discrimination into the fundamental constitutional law of this state.
Christians as well as Jews draw from their sacred texts the conviction that every human being bears the image of God. This is the theological basis of our commitment to the dignity and equality of every person. We see the movement to recognize the full social and legal equality of LGBT persons as part of the same movement that led reforming Christians and others to work for the abolition of slavery, the end of racial segregation and the equality of women even when that placed them at odds with the prevailing social and political order. In doing so, we follow the example of Jesus who dared to offend the privileged and defend the outcast and whose hospitality extended to all persons.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons like heterosexual persons are bearers of the image of God. For the same reasons as all other couples, same gender persons choose life partners with whom they covenant to create a home, to build a life, and to form an enduring family offering mutual support in good times and bad. Same gender couples often shoulder the responsibility of child rearing; they are productive citizens; they pay taxes and contribute to their communities. Like
marriage, these enduring, covenanted relationships of LGBT persons contribute to the health of our society. They deserve nothing less than social and legal equality.
We recognize the difference between civil and religious marriage. Clergy and their churchesshould always enjoy the religious freedom to determine whom they will marry in religious ceremonies. Civil marriage is a legal status conferred by the state granting over a thousand rights, privileges and responsibilities to married couples and their families. In a free and pluralistic society, honoring the separation of church and state, religious institutions do not and should not control access to civil marriage or in any other manner limit the civil equality of all persons.
We recognize that at the present time many Americans would like to reserve the term “marriage” to heterosexual couples, while many of these same Americans would like to see same gender couples enjoy equality before the law. Some have proposed the creation of a parallel institution to marriage which would grant LGBT persons the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as marriage but which would not be termed “marriage.” The State of Vermont has adopted such a measure. While
there are reasons why such a compromise may be politically workable and desirable at this time, there remain serious questions as to whether this attempt to achieve equality is adequate. In United States legal history “separate but equal” institutions have proven to be fundamentally unequal.

Last Updated: November 11, 2005