Some members of the Madison, Wis., city council oppose a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage," and they want the right to express their dissent when they take their oath of office, the Associated Press reported.
Wisconsin voters voted overwhelmingly to approve the amendment last November, but the Madison city council will discuss a plan today that would allow elected and appointed officials, when taking oath, to sign a statement that says they took it under protest because the marriage amendment "besmirches our constitution."
If approved, more than 500 members of various city committees would have the option of adding the statement to their oath of office.
Brenda Konkel, one of six council members sponsoring the proposal, said the proposal is a first step toward overturning the amendment.
"We’re still going to swear to uphold the constitution," she said. "All it’s saying is that we’re going to work to change it, and any discrimination that happens as a result of it isn’t acceptable in Madison."
Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, said her organization is researching "what avenues are available to stop this kind of outrageous behavior."
"It would seem to me that it is illegal for people taking an oath of office to pick and choose what portions of the constitution they will affirm and uphold," she said. "Protesting is one thing but doing it in an oath is another."
Rep. Mark Gundrum, Republican sponsor of the amendment, thinks the protest is silly.
"Only folks from as radical as a planet as Madison could think of that," he said. "If they want to do crazy things like this, they’re going to. Whether they can legally or not is not something I have time to worry about."
