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Ear to the Ground

Public Officials Pledge to Eliminate Gay Marriage Ban

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Posted on Jan 18, 2007
Protesters
badgerherald.com

The city of Madison, Wis., will allow public officeholders to protest the state’s gay marriage ban when they’re sworn in this April, adding this caveat to their oaths: “I pledge to work to eliminate this section from the constitution ... and work to prevent any discriminatory impacts from its application.”

Los Angeles Times:

In a move that has raised concern on the left and the right, the City Council this week voted to let officeholders announce they are taking the oath under protest because they deplore a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

After swearing to uphold the state constitution, officeholders will be allowed to add that, in their view, the gay-marriage amendment “besmirches” that document. “I pledge to work to eliminate this section from the constitution,” the protest statement reads, “and work to prevent any discriminatory impacts from its application.”

Madison Mayor David J. Cieslewicz called the statement a fair way to resolve a “crisis of conscience” in his famously liberal city. “Many of us felt that we couldn’t, in good conscience, swear allegiance to a state constitution that openly discriminated against gays and lesbians,” he said.

Making a political statement after an oath of office is not a novel idea, he added: “Politicians do it all the time. It’s called an inauguration speech.”

But critics said they were troubled by what they considered a pledge—en masse—to undermine the laws of the land the officeholders had only moments earlier sworn to uphold.

“This is a trashing of democracy,” said Julaine K. Appling, chief executive of the nonprofit Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, a conservative advocacy group. “Officeholders have to uphold the constitution. They don’t get to pick and choose.”

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By Quy Tran, January 19, 2007 at 1:58 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Hey guys, don’t make “papa” Cheney angry ! He would hang you guys higher than Saddam. Be careful !

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By Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD, January 19, 2007 at 1:33 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

#48551 flying fish, I want to congratulate you on tying the knot with your S.O. and I wish you both many years of happiness together.  I applaud your courage.  I think it’s a blemish on the face of America when people who love and care about each other have to exile in order to feel safe.  Heterosexuals who make that necessary can not care enough about the human condition to be adequately human in a heterosexual relationship.  You’re way better than they are.  Good Luck!

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By ROWDYRUFFIAN, January 19, 2007 at 1:32 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

julaine k. appling says “they have to uphold the constitution,they don’t get to pick and choose”. well, julie somebody needs to tell YOUR president,he can’t pick and choose either. just consider this as a signing statement by your council people.

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By Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD, January 19, 2007 at 4:56 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Everyone’s right here.  As you know, I have long championed the rights of sexual people all over the country.  Unfortunately, it sounds as if the constitution in Wisc. does discriminate against some sexual people and not others.  Sex is a very touchy subject.  People take it very seriously and personally.  It’s almost like there’s some kind of sexual extra sensory perception (SESP) connecting everyone with everyone else.  When someone does something with their thing, their twinkie, or whatever, other people “feel” it.  This can be very upsetting to some.  Very, very upsetting.  So upsetting that it causes powerful people to make unfair decisions that affect other people, to wit, allegedly, the Wisc. state constitution.  So upsetting that, when someone does something with their thing that someone else doesn’t like, it’s, well, repugnant.  I’m planning to apply for a lucrative government grant to conduct an exhaustive study to get to the bottom of this SESP, its very nature and root causes and try to either control or eliminate it altogether.  It’s just not right that all sexual people everywhere should live their sex lives in fear of some form of sex-related retribution.  I think it advisable, also, that homosexuals stop discriminating and otherwise controlling and making miserable the lives of heterosexual people; it’s simply not socially productive to piss off a little over half the population, especially when they are so happy in their heterosexual sex lives.  Thank you, in advance, for your cooperation.  When sexual people finally get over their hang-ups, I can get on to more important work, like putting pet stores and breeders out of business.  Before I go, though, which is more INHUMANE, clipping the wings of a bird and keeping it in a cage for weeks until someone who only thinks they want it, spontaneously buys, then abuses it, or someone putting their thing where someone else, not wanting or receiving it, doesn’t want it to go?

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By flying fish, January 18, 2007 at 5:28 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I’m a gay male and i lived in Wisconsin for most of my childhood. I have been in a committed relationship for many years, we moved around to find the right place: we finally went north to tie the knot, such as it is, and settled briefly in Seattle. We are planning to move to SF very soon. We are very open about who we are, not camp, just open. I have been fired, bashed, and spat on at different times, all for the same reason. It is hell being gay in some places, especially the mid-west.

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