Gay activists and their allies in Wisconsin are canvassing the state on Saturday, going door-to-door to ask voters to oppose a November ballot initiative to amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Over 500 volunteers with the group Fair Wisconsin will cover each of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
"We have 174 days left until voters weigh in on the ban, and we have the massive grassroots operation that it will take to defeat it," said Fair Wisconsin campaign manager Mike Tate.
Madonna Bowman, the Fond du Lac County coordinator, met with 22 other volunteers on Monday to plan their Saturday canvass. Bowman got involved because she has a lesbian daughter. "This issue directly impacts our family," she said, "and I think that as people in Fond du Lac understand the broad implications of the ban they will vote no."
St. Croix County coordinator Mike Day and other volunteers will talk to voters in Hudson. Day is a fourth-generation Wisconsinite who works across the state line as the senior vice president of the Science Museum of Minnesota. "St. Croix is one of the fastest-growing and most economically vibrant counties in Wisconsin because of its close proximity to the Twin Cities," he said. "The ban puts that vitality at risk. For example, it would jeopardize domestic-partner health benefits. If the ban passes, it would make it difficult for us to recruit and retain the best employees."
Ashland County coordinator Carl Sack is leading a group of Ashland residents across his county. "We need to inform the people of Ashland what's at stake with the ban," he said. "That's what we'll be doing on Saturday and in the months to come." (The Advocate)
