Wisconsin battle lacks national attention

Shane Wealti posted a fantastic blog today on Dane101.com regarding the chilling lack of national attention that the Wisconsin marriage debate is receiving from national LGBT organizations and media. Although Wisconsin is just one of five states where this sort of legislation is being left up to ballot in November (South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee and Virginia are the others), this battle is clearly going to be the most closely contested here.

"The absence of national coverage is also problematic because many of the important LGBT political donors live on the East and West coasts and it reinforces the stereotype of the midwest as 'flyover country.'"

Here in Madison, thanks to the efforts of the hundreds of volunteers that have been mobilized by Fair Wisconsin, it is hard to walk two feet on campus without seeing a window sign, a button, or a sidewalk chalking proclaiming "Vote No!", but it is painfully obvious that there are still many in our town that have no idea what this debate is even about. "What does 'A Fair Wisconsin vote no?' even mean anyway?" asked one friend; "What amendment?" asked another. We still have a lot of work to do in the weeks ahead, it seems.

In other news, the Tomah Journal had a quaint editorial opposing the ban published yesterday, and the Capitol Rotunda will be playing host to a beautiful Love Makes a Family exhibit on the first floor until October 21, so that is definitely worth a look-see.

And perhaps most importantly, tomorrow is National Coming Out Day. The LGBT Campus Center will be bringing the gay beginning at 11AM on Library Mall with the Breaking OUT of the Closet Obstacle Course until 2PM.

Masquerade! Every face a different shade!

This is pretty much what the scene should look like this coming Friday night, for what should be an incredible event, the TPS Masquerade Ball, a Benefit for Fair Wisconsin. In case you've forgotten or somehow manage to otherwise avoid the barrage of stuffers, sidewalk chalking, and other advertising, here are the specifics on the event:

The Ten Percent Society Masquerade Ball

A Benefit for Fair Wisconsin

Friday, October 13, 2006, at 10pm

Great Hall, Memorial Union

$5 Admission with Campus or 18+ ID

$3 Admission if you sign up to volunteer for Fair Wisconsin

Appetizers, including chocolate-covered strawberries, will be served; masks will be created and worn; and many a rug will surely be cut in the name of a phenomenal organization. Additionally, the dance will feature a All-Inclusive Marriage Booth, where you can have your marriage photo taken for inclusion in a special feature on this blog to be unveiled on Monday.

See you there!

Board of Regents sends message

BIG GAY NEWS today from the student papers, and I must say that it's certainly a welcome change from the Mark Foley scandal (although I would recommend checking out Jon Stewart's take on the whole situation from last week, in case you missed it).

UW system publicly opposes gay marriage ban (Daily Cardinal)

One would hope that this coverage of the Board's position on this topic will sway a few votes as voters realize the depressing vagueness of the amendment's infamous second sentence. UW has lost some outstanding instructors due to its position as the only Big 10 school that does not offer domestic partnership benefits, and this amendment would shut the door on the possibility of that ever happening.

This issue has a lot to do with an article that was published today on the State Journal's Opinion page, on the sad state of diversity on campus. Although the article focused mainly on racial diversity, I think that this is an issue that concerns all of us. Here was a particularly alarming quotation:

"In the meantime, the university languishes at the bottom of the Big 10 in diversity. Several major corporations have stopped recruiting here due to a lack of diversity among our students. Those corporations have also declared that UW-Madison's white students are so deprived of experiences with people of color that they are poorly prepared to assist with global sales initiatives."

I would argue that students on a predominately heterosexual campus and suffer similarly from a lack of contact with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgendered students and faculty. If this ban passes, it could not only deter instructors from contributing to our institution, but we would likely lose incoming students who would prefer to pursue their education in a more socially-accepting state.

Welcome!

Welcome to the brand spankin' new weblog for UW-Madison's Ten Percent Society! The purpose of this blog is to bring together Madison's LGBT community by serving as a central portal for news, events, and trends, our own "community page" of sorts, if you will. To my knowledge, nothing like this has existed in Madison before, and I felt that now was the perfect time for it to happen. At a time when our community's rights are being more heavily politicized than ever before, we need to come together to fight this in any way that we can.

So, I'd like to get the ball rolling with this blog by introducing myself. My name is Joe Erbentraut, and I'm a junior here on campus. I'm originally from Lake Geneva, Wis., and am proud to now call Madison my full-time home. I am double majoring in journalism/mass communication and sociology, also pursuing a certificate in LGBT Studies.

Interested in contributing to the blog with news, opinion pieces, art, photography, or information you think that LGBT Madison needs to see? If so, then please contact me. I would love to see this blog grow into whatever it is users would like to see in the future, so let's make it happen!