News Release
Marriage Protection Amendment passes state-wide referendum
MADISON — In response to Tuesday’s elections results, where Wisconsin voters passed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman, Vote Yes for Marriage president, Julaine Appling, said, “Tuesday, November 7, 2006, stands as yet another landmark for traditional marriage. The people of the great state of Wisconsin have reaffirmed the importance of one-man/one-woman marriage in our society. Wisconsin is now one of the latest states in our country that has proudly stood up and publicly declared that traditional marriage is best for our state, best for our society, best for our communities, best for our children, and best for our future.”
Wisconsin’s Marriage Protection Amendment now serves as the strongest legal protection for traditional marriage. Appling attributed the success of the amendment to a highly energized grassroots movement, focused on 5000 identified churches and pastors throughout the state.
“From the very beginning, this amendment has been driven by the people of this state,” Appling said. “From the tens of thousands of signatures and countless phones calls urging their elected representatives to approve the amendment, to the true grass roots effort to educate and energize their communities, the people of Wisconsin have led the way in defending traditional marriage.”
Although vastly outspent and outnumbered by opposition groups, Appling said churches and pastors across the state and the dedication of Wisconsinites to traditional values were the driving force for the passage of the amendment.
“Throughout the course of human history, crossing boundaries of race, class and time, one-man/one-woman marriage has served as the best environment for the procreation and rearing of children,” Appling said. “Traditional marriage has best served society by providing the stable infrastructure from which all aspects of civil, public and private life thrive. We now join the millions of Americans who have raised the banner of traditional marriage and proudly declare that in Wisconsin, marriage is the exclusive union of one man and one woman.”