2857
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
Written by Cory Liebmann
May 5, 2011
Only four months into the year, we already have witnessed our entire state government take a radical turn to the right. It started with an unprecedented attack on working families, but it is quickly extending beyond. No wonder an unprecedented number of recall efforts have been launched.
The enthusiasm to recall eligible Republican state senators has been demonstrated in many ways. In most cases the efforts have led to 40 to 50 percent more signatures being submitted for recall than were required by law. Six of the eight eligible Republicans could face recall elections this summer.
These Republicans are extremists who have all demonstrated hostility toward the LGBT community. Most of them repeatedly supported the discriminatory constitutional amendment in 2006 that banned marriage equality. They also voted against the historic domestic partnership registry that finally passed in the 2009 budget. Many of them voted against bullying legislation that was meant to better protect our children from harassment and violence.
The Republican senators’ dismissive attitude toward the LGBT community is not a recent phenomenon. During the budget process in 2007, Senate Democrats included domestic partner benefits for state workers and their families. Even though this would have been a huge benefit for LGBT families, Sen. Alberta Darling protested by saying it was “not a family friendly budget.” It is not precisely clear what kind of “family” she was referring to at the time, but given her record in recent years she probably was not thinking about gay and lesbian families.
It also has become clear that many of the Republican senators targeted for recall have a cozy relationship with the most homophobic forces in the state. For example, in 2009, Sen. Dan Kapanke shared a stage with Wisconsin’s leading anti-gay crusader, Julaine Appling of Wisconsin Family Action. That appearance, coupled with his votes against the LGBT community, tell us everything that we need to know about his position on equality.
Not all of the senate Republicans have always been so hostile to gay and lesbian families. In 1993, then-state Rep. Tammy Baldwin succeeded in getting a couple of her Republican colleagues to support President Bill Clinton’s efforts to end discrimination against gays and lesbians in the military. One of those colleagues, nearly 18 years ago, was a much more moderate Darling. Unfortunately, each ensuing year has seen her moderation wane. By 2004, according to votesmart.org, she earned a score of 0 from Fair Wisconsin. It is truly sad that she went from taking such a reasonable stand in 1993 to obstructing equality on a regular basis.
The bottom line is that there are many reasons to join the movement to recall senate Republicans this summer. Whether it is their attack on working Wisconsinites, on the LGBT community or a combination of both, one thing has become crystal clear: Their records of extremism are out of synch with the majority of fair-minded people in our state.
