The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 7

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006 The Capital Times A7 Ifl.l Its a somber mood at Monona Terrace as voters authorize same-sex marriages and unions to be banned in the Wisconsin Constitution. Above, Olwen Hansen-Blake (left) and Shelley Hansen-Blake of Madison comfort each other, while Kristina Glodowskl and Lesley Wolf of Madison watch the results. In No-fault law declared target in wake of win MICHELLE STOCKERTHE CAPITAL TIMES At an election nlght'gatherlng at Monona Oaks Community Church, gay marriage ban supporter Tim Asure of Cottage Grove feels the spirit (left) while Paster Reed Heckman talks with Jim and Joann Wright, who drove from Baraboo. IEV0TE Wisconsin: 3,592 of 3,597 precincts reporting 99 percent YES, 1 ,259,489 59 percent No, 860,996 41 percent By Judith Davidoff The Capital Times Fresh from their successful fight to ban same-sex marriage in the state constitution, supporters are now ready to turn to what they see as the next biggest threat to the institution of marriage: Wisconsins no-fault divorce law.

What was highlighted in this campaign is that marriage is indeed under attack and no-fault divorce is one of those attacks, Julaine Appling, CEO of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin and president of the Vote Yes for Marriage campaign, said Tuesday night. Appling said the Family Research Institute, which led the fight for the same-sex marriage ban, would judiciously examine Wisconsins no-fault divorce law and eventually approach legislators about introducing changes. Under the law, spouses can request termiru-llon of the marriage without having to prove marital misconduct. Appling said she could foresee proposing a longer waiting period for divorces and implementing required premarital counseling. One thing Appling said was not in her groups future was filing any direct challenges to existing domestic partner benefits offered within the state of Wisconsin something that has happened in other states with similar same-sex marriage bans.

I have absolutely no plans for that," she said. Appling acknowledged court challenges related to the ban would be forthcoming, though she said she had no idea what they would be, or where they would come from. Appling said she was very pleased with Tuesdays amendment vote, which passed easily, 59 to 41 percent. Pundits had pegged Wisconsin and South Dakota as the first states that might turn back such an effort but it was Arizona, instead, that nabbed that distinction, defeating its marriage ban 51-49 percent. Tuesday night, the states of South Dakota, Virginia and Colorado passed their bans with smaller margins than Wisconsin.

There are now 27 states with gay marriage bans in their constitutions. Sadness, defiance: The passage of Wisconsins amendment left many opponents visibly shaken as they gathered Tuesday night at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. Its just really sad, said Leslie Shear through tears. I thought Wisconsin was different. Others were defiant.

MICHELLE STOCKERTHE CAPITAL TIMES cantly higher than for other recent midterm elections. At the Memorial Union polling station, poll worker Sylviaftobertson said more than 1,000 voters had cast their ballots as of 6 p.m. About half of then! were same-day registrants, she added. Thats a tremendous turnout, Robertson said. At the Memorial Library, where two wards voted, poll worker Ann Waide-lich predicted that 80 to 90 percent of the approximately 1,000 who voted in Ward 46 registered on Election Day.

Many students said they were motivated to vote at least in part by the marriage amendment. I know a lot of people who are gay and its important that they have equal rights to the rest of us, said Rachel Wroblewski, a sophomore at UW-Madison, who cast her ballot at the Union. Wroblewski, whose father has a rare form of leukemia, was also drawn to the polls because of the controversy over stem cell research, which figured into the race for governor. My father has a disease where stem cell research could save his life, she said. Katie Steil said she corralled two of her friends to vote because of (he same-sex marriage referendum.

I just feel its really unfair to not allow a gay couple to marry, said Steil, 19, a sophomore at UW-Madison who voted for the first time Tuesday. But not all students opposed the amendment. UW-Madison sophomore Adam Strutz, 20, said he felt called to the polls because, as a self-described conservative, he feels like a minority in Madison. Strutz declined to confirm his vote on the marriage amendment, but said and churches and, on Tuesday, attributed the amendments success to that constituency: the 5,000 churches and the 2 million people who occupy those churches." Appling said supporters also relied on 10,000 core volunteers to get out the vote in the final days before the election. These volunteers were instructed to call likely supporters, Appling said, including people they might know through 4-H, Bible studies and home-schooling circles.

About 180,000 robo calls were made, she added. Joann and Jim Wright drove from Baraboo Tuesday night to attend a prayer service led by Pastor William Bartz at the Monona Oaks Community Church. Wright said his support of the same-sex marriage ban stems from his religious convictions. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, he said, makes it clear that sexual relations between same-sex couples is an abomination. Retired local pastor Richard Pritchard, who also attended the service, said he thought the amendment was necessary to stem the spread of AIDS.

Our bodies are not made for male intercourse and thats why the disease spreads, he said. I would hate to see the government approving this kind of a lifestyle when its so dangerous. Big turnout here: Dane County was the only county in the state to vote against the amendment, with two-thirds of local voters rejecting the amendment. La Crosse County came close, with voters about evenly split. Fair Wisconsin had curried the student vote in campuses across the state and same-day registrations at UW-Madison campus wards were signifi Alix Olson said she would be picketing the state Capitol this morning.

If people think were defeated they should think twice, said Olson. Olson said she and her partner, Martha Popp, have been in love for 30 years and have been fighting for their rights for most of that time. Shear, who has two children with her female partner, said there was a silver lining in the campaign waged by Fair Wisconsin. I think what we did here was really an inspiration to other movements in other states, said Shear, director of the Frank J. Remington Centers Family Law Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This was the biggest campaign. Indeed, Fair Wisconsin, the main opposition group, put together a broad coalition that brought together such disparate groups as the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. The campaign raised $5 million, aired television and radio ads in nuqor media markets for months, and ran a sophisticated, grass-roots campaign with 72 county chairs. In its final get-out-the-vote effort, Fair Wisconsin filled 9,500 volunteer shifts statewide and placed 1.6 million so-called robo or automated calls in homes around the state, according to spokesman Josh Freker. In contrast, gay ban supporters raised about $500,000 and didnt put their first radio or television ads on the air until October.

Appling confined her outreach to religious leaders What was highlighted in this campaign is that marriage is indeed under attack and no-fault divorce is one of those attacks Julaine Appling, CEO, Family Research Institute of Wisconsin he already got yelled at" by some peers. Mike Tate, campaign manager fbr Fair Wisconsin, said opponents sun-ply could not overcome long-held, hardened attitudes about homosexuality. We had to go in and change peoples minds and thats the hardest thing to do in the crucible of a campaign. We did everything we could. E-mail, jdavidoffmadison.com Right wing loses on abortion ban, stem cell research Arizona 1st to nix gay marriage ban wage in six states.

The wage hikes passed in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Nevada. The Missouri stem cell measure passed by a narrow margin. It had become a key factor in the states crucial Senate race, won by Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill, who supported it, over incumbent Republican Jim Talent, who opposed it. In Michigan, voters took a swipe at affirmative action, deciding that race and gender should not be factors in deciding who gets into public universities or who gets hired for government work. Arizona voters faced the most ballot measures 19.

They approved four that arose out of frustration over the influx of illegal immigrants: One measure makes English the states official language, while another expands the list of government benefits denied to illegal immigrants. By David Crary Associated Press In a triple setback for conservatives, South Dakota rejected a law that would have banned virtually all abortions, Arizona became the first state to defeat an amendment to ban gay marriage, and Missouri approved a measure backing stem cell research. Nationwide, a total of 205 measures were on the ballots Tuesday in 37 states, but none had riveted political activists across the country like the South Dakota measure. Passed overwhelmingly by the Legislature earlier this year, it would have been the toughest abortion law in the nation, allowing the procedure only to save a pregnant womans life. Lawmakers had hoped the ban would be challenged in court, provoking litigation that might eventually lead to a U.S.

Supreme Court reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision le Arizona: Yes, 551 ,231 49 percent NO, 583,830 51 percent Colorado: YES, 762,592 56 percent No, 600,451 44 percent Idaho: YES, 251 ,026 63 percent No, 147,470 37 percent South Carolina: YES, 812,679 78 percent No, 228,638 22 percent South Dakota: YES, 169,807 52 percent No, 158,406 48 percent Tmmsm: YES. 1,407,769 80 percent No, 342,286 20 percent Virginia: YES, 1 ,322,130 57 percent No, 999,854 43 percent Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin approved them. Similar amendments have passed previously in all 20 states to consider them. Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, noted that the bans that succeeded won by much narrower margins, on average, than in the past.

He said it was a sign that fear-mongering around same-sex marriage is fizzling out Conservatives had hoped the same-sex marriage bans might increase turnout for Republicans, though the GOP had a rough night Democrats had looked for a boost from low-in- come voters turning out on behalf of measures to raise the state minimum galizing abortion. Many voters said they viewed the measure which lost by a 55-45 margin as too intrusive, using language that failed to guarantee the rights of victims of rape and incest. Arizona bucked a strong national trend by refusing to change its constitution to define marriage as a one-man, one-woman institution. The measure also would have forbidden civil unions. We knew all along that once voters were informed about the true impact they would oppose this hurtful initiative, said Steve May, treasurer for Arizona Together, which organized opposition to the measure.

They made the right decision. A total of eight states voted on amendments to ban gay marriage: 1.