Wisconsin Gaze

Leaders of the new Republican majority in the Wisconsin Legislature are quietly twisting arms to try to get their members to focus solely on measures to create jobs and boost the economy when they assume power in two months.

But some Republicans, whose attempts to act on social issues failed under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle the past eight years, say they intend to press ahead to legalize concealed weapons, pass tough new immigration restrictions, and eliminate domestic partner benefits and the state’s domestic partner registry.

Green Bay City Council voted to table a measure that would have authorized the city’s legal department to join forces with an anti-gay group seeking to overturn the state’s domestic partner registry law.

A council committee approved the measure, the first of its kind in the state, on Oct. 25. But when the measure was brought up for a vote before the full council on Nov. 3, aldermen voted 9 - 2 to postpone action on it indefinitely.

A report says a Wisconsin prosecutor was caught by hotel security viewing pornography in the business center of a resort and then was “most likely” masturbating when he returned hours later.

The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department report says Wood County District Attorney John Henkelmann will not be charged because no one – except a surveillance camera – could see inside the publicly accessible room.

With just days to go before the election, a woman filed a lawsuit against the Republican candidate for Wisconsin secretary of state, charging that David King got her pregnant after she passed out in his home.

Charlette Harris contends there could be no other explanation for her pregnancy, because she’s a lesbian and has been in a monogamous relationship with a woman for four years.

Police are investigating more hate crimes at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – this time involving vandalism to the cars of three black students.

The university said someone slashed the tires of the cars and spray-painted “KKK” on the doors and hoods. The incidents happened between 11 p.m. on Nov. 8 and 10 a.m. on Nov. 9.

As newly reported incidents of teen suicides brought on by homophobic bullying continue to dominate the national news for a second month, advocates for youth in Wisconsin hope to transform the ongoing tragedy into positive action.

There have been recent town meetings in Appleton and Madison, candlelight vigils at the University of Wisconsin campuses in Green Bay and Madison and social networking campaigns by older LGBT community members, who are reaching out to their younger peers.

On Nov. 2, Republicans won the majority over all three branches of Wisconsin government, securing their control of the state’s political agenda for at least the next two years – and quite possibly well beyond.

In conjunction with the 2010 national census, new legislative maps will be drawn next year throughout the nation to reflect population changes. With complete control over the process of redistricting in Wisconsin, GOP leaders will have leeway to configure political boundaries that maximize the impact of Republican voters and ensure them a strong political advantage for the coming decade.

Appleton City Council voted 12 -4 to retain the city’s diversity coordinator position.

Eliminating the position, which is currently held by Kathy Flores, was one of many proposals that aldermen debated during a seven-hour overnight meeting on Nov. 10 to consider ways of closing the city’s $2.5-million budget gap.

One week before she was elected lieutenant governor, Rebecca Kleefisch made a rare and brief public appearance at UW – Waukesha, only to be greeted by students protesting her anti-gay statements.

A demonstration organized by the campus group Pride Alliance brought about 30 sign-carrying protesters together in front of the building where Kleefisch was scheduled to address a student Republican group Oct. 26. The students spoke with a Fox6 reporter as the lieutenant gubernatorial candidate was whisked secretly into the building through a back door.

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire will take administrative action against a professor who sent a derisive e-mail to a student calling LGBT people the “walking wounded.”

The e-mail was a response to senior Crystal Kazik’s request for faculty support in promoting the Eau Queer Film Festival, an LGBT event that she helped to organize. Tony Hilton, chair of the university’s information systems department, wrote back: “I decry attempts to legitimize (homosexuals’) addictions and compulsions. These, our fellow humans, deserve our best efforts to help them recover their lives. We only hurt them further when we choose to pretend that these walking wounded are OK the way they are, that their present injuries are the best they can hope for in life.”