In November, 2006, the citizens of Wisconsin passed a state amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. They passed it with overwhelming support (more than 59 percent). Alliance Defense Fund announced Wednesday that the attempt of gay activists to override the vote of the people has failed.
Wisconsin Family Council President Julaine K. Appling noted: “The lawsuit’s accusation that the marriage amendment addresses multiple subjects was just a sneaky attempt to tear down what the voters clearly wanted. The court was right to reject this baseless lawsuit. Judges and politicians should never toss aside the will of the people in order to impose a system that intentionally deprives children of a mom and dad. Which parent doesn’t matter: a mom or a dad?”
In a move typical of gay activists’ efforts to oppose marriage amendments that were passed in other states, opponents in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit claiming that the amendment violated what is known as the “single subject” rule. Many states have laws that state that amendments must deal only with one topic and when the amendment deals with both marriage and also bar domestic partner benefits that resemble marriage, opponents then claim it violates that law.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court weren’t caught up in the nonsense, however. The Court ruled in a 7-1 opinion that: “the two propositions contained in the marriage amendment plainly relate to the subject of marriage. And as the text of the amendment and context of its adoption make clear, the general purpose of the marriage amendment is to preserve the legal status of marriage in Wisconsin as between only one man and one woman. Both propositions in the marriage amendment relate to and are connected with this purpose. Therefore, the marriage amendment does not violate the separate amendment rule of Article XII, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution. Rather, the marriage amendment was adopted by the people of Wisconsin using the process prescribed by the constitution, and is properly now part of our constitution.”
Traditional marriage and the citizens of Wisconsin win again.