MADISON — On Tuesday, July 27, supporters of marriage will gather at the State Capitol to show support for the sanctity of marriage and to show appreciation for a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in favor of the state constitutional amendment.
The Summer for Marriage tour’s “One Man, One Woman Rally,” sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage and Wisconsin Family Action, will take place July 27 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. at the State St. entrance of the Capitol building (the intersection of W. Mifflin St. and N. Carroll St.). Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP to info@wifamilyaction.org
The Wisconsin State Constitutional Amendment was passed in November 2006 with 59 percent of Wisconsin votes. The amendment reads: “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”
On June 30, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of upholding the amendment. A suit filed in July 2007, alleged, among other things, that the amendment was unconstitutional due to a requirement that voters must be allowed to vote separately on separate amendments. The plaintiff alleged that the two sentences of the marriage amendment constituted two amendments. Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen countered that the amendment was adopted in conformity with the separate amendment rule.
In their ruling, the court deemed that the amendment was adopted in conformity with the separate amendment rule. “Both sentences of the marriage amendment relate to marriage and tend to effect or carry out the same general purpose of preserving the legal status of marriage in Wisconsin as between only one man and one woman,” the ruling said.
“We are absolutely thrilled that the Supreme Court upheld the will of the people and understood the amendment passed by nearly 60 percent of the voters in 2006 was about one subject and one subject only, marriage,” Julaine Appling of Wisconsin Family Action, which backed the amendment, said in a press release.
For more information on the Support for Marriage Tour 2010 or to pledge support for a federal marriage amendment, visit www.marriagetour2010.org