write your congressman
Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004,

A letter I wrote to my congressman regarding the House vote on the proposed marriage amendment:

Congressman;

I am writing to convey my deep disappointment in your recent vote in favor of amending the Constitution of the United States.

After receiving your email in January indicating you were against amending the Constitution, I felt that you had a clear view of this issue, and were a man of conscience. After your vote, I feel I reached that conclusion in error.

Therefore, I am also writing to let you know that I feel so deeply about this issue (and the related "definition" of marriage given on your website), that you have lost my support and my vote.

I cannot, in good conscience, continue to support an elected official who is in favor of denying civil rights to my fellow Americans through constitutional amendment.

America has a long history of granting civil and legal advantage to people joined in marriage. As long as this country is unwilling to grant these same advantages to gays, then conferring them upon �straights� creates an appalling double standard.

Removing the ability of the judicial system to override these inequities creates a gap in the system of checks and balances that allows our form of government to work. I also feel that it is usurpation at the federal level of authorities belonging to individual state governments, and therefore inherently wrong. Whether an amendment be ultimately for or against gay marriage, it has no place in the federal sphere.

In closing, I would like to say: My gay friends pay taxes (HUGE taxes), own homes, and work to make Wisconsin a decent place. They fight fires, teach in schools, keep our streets safe, and pick up our garbage. They shop in our stores, buy automobiles, and eat in our restaurants. They are a vital and productive segment of our society, and are deserving of the same rights the rest of us take for granted. I am sorry that they are not a large enough segment of the population for you to consider their needs and their rights.

Regretfully, etc.