After having recently read Joe Boesen's article about the proposed marriage amendment that Wisconsin voters will decide on this November, I was extremely disappointed. His article focused on the falsity that this ban is a strictly partisan issue. His assumption must have come from the initial vote that took place in the Wisconsin legislature, which happened to be largely divided along party lines. However, it is neither a Republican nor Democratic issue. It is an issue of discrimination for all Wisconsinites. There are many Republicans who oppose this ban and a closer examination of the principles behind this ban demonstrates a strong anti-conservative policy. Such a constitutional amendment would call for increased government intrusion into the lives of not only homosexual couples, but heterosexual couples as well.

Most conservatives champion limited governmental involvement, especially in the private lives of law-abiding citizens. Faith groups from across the religious and political spectrum are vehemently opposed to this ban also, as well as several businesses and labor groups all over the state. Furthermore, many Republicans, including such prominent leaders as former Gov. Lee Sherman Dryfus, have taken a strong stance against the ban.

To take the bold step and write discrimination into the constitution of the state of Wisconsin would merely open the door to future amendments of such nature. Though the ban would prevent any homosexual couple from even a possibility of a civil union, it has significant effects for the rest of the population too. It is not only an issue of status or finances that these couples desperately want. It is commitment to each other and to their communities. It is the ability to take care of one another, to make the right medical and legal decisions if the other should become incapable — the right to visit a loved one in the ICU if he or she should end up there. These are basic human dignity rights that would be taken away from a significant portion of the population.

To write this off as merely just a party issue is not only inappropriate, but also dangerously inaccurate. It simply reinforces the ideological boxes that have been placed around people of all parties in our country — further preventing us from uniting as Americans in recent years.

Hagen is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.