Here & Now

Katie Belanger on Future of Same-Sex Marriage

Zac Schultz:

The legalization of gay marriage was a big win for a lot of groups that had been fighting for this movement for more than a decade. We wanted to know what’s next for LGBT groups. Recently I sat down with Katie Belanger, president and CEO of Fair Wisconsin, to talk about whether they think gay marriage the here to stay.

Katie Belanger:

I think that, you know, with all the court cases that have been moving their way up and the just sheer volume of decisions that have struck down bans, and that the Supreme Court has declined to hear those cases is a really good signal for us. And that eventually we will go get to the stage where they have to clarify, but I think they've really indicated that they're coming down on the side that these amendments are unconstitutional.

Zac Schultz:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has talked about not wanting the Supreme Court to make the final decision, to let it play out maybe a little more slowly. Do you think that’s impacting why the Supreme Court didn’t take that case?

Katie Belanger:

Well, I think it’s a little hard to totally figure out what the Supreme Court is saying. I think each justice has a little bit different approach to how they view the legal system and how to decide these really critical and still slightly controversial issues. But I think that they're also a court that is consistent. And how they’ve handled cases like Wisconsin will be how they handle other cases.

Zac Schultz:

So what’s next in Wisconsin, for fair Wisconsin and for all LGBT people?

Katie Belanger:

Marriage equality is absolutely a critical issue, but it is certainly not the only issue that members of the gay and transgender community face every day. So at Fair Wisconsin we’re very excited to, first, work on implementing the marriage laws, making sure that same-sex couples don’t just have the ability to get married, but have equal access to all of the legal protections and rights and obligations of marriage. That’s one of our key priorities moving forward. We’re also really excited to work on non-discrimination in Wisconsin. You know, our state was the first in the country in 1982 to pass a law that protected on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations. Since that time the best practices have changed about how to make sure the entire community has protections. And so as states are now moving non-discrimination legislation forward, they’re including sexual orientation and also gender identity and expression to make sure that transgender people, as well as any gender non-conforming people, don’t experience discrimination. So we've got some work here to modernize our state laws.

Zac Schultz:

Will it happen through the courts most likely, or are you expecting this legislature to take up some of these issues?

Katie Belanger:

Well, I think it is, at its core, a legislative issue. We need to modernize and update our statutes to make sure that they’re fully inclusive of the entire community. And so we’ve been working to build education and support for that. I think there is still a lot of work to do to be ready to actually introduce and pass a bill, but I’m extremely hopeful about the prospects of doing so.

Zac Schultz:

Do you expect this legislature with this governor to pass any legislation like that?

Katie Belanger:

I think it will take a lot of work to be able to do that, but I also think that the Republican party in general understands that the tide has turned on LGBT issues. Not just marriage equality, but also fully inclusive non-discrimination. And I think that they are also on their own journey towards acceptance and taking a stand that will support all of the citizens of Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:

When it comes to transgender issues, which seems to be the next big horizon out there, what is the big concern?

Katie Belanger:

The big concern is that without having legal protections specifically for the transgender community, we see double the rates of unemployment for transgender people when compared to their LGB or heterosexual or counterparts around the state. We see high rates of homelessness. We see high rates of poverty. These are real issues that are impacting real people and real families, and that's really what's at stake here.

Zac Schultz:

Some of the issues we've seen are coming out of high schools now, where they're trying to accommodate transgender students by allowing the use of the restroom of their choice, but that brings of privacy concerns on both ends.

Katie Belanger:

Its absolutely a privacy concern, especially for the person who's transgender. You know, everybody needs to have facilities. Everybody is human and needs to be able to use a restroom, needs to be able to use facilities wherever they are. And what we need is to have schools and governments that understand that it’s what’s best for everybody.

Zac Schultz:

Do you think that will take as long to move that far as it did for gay and lesbian couples to earn the right to marriage?

Katie Belanger:

Well, I think things are moving very quickly in general. I think that we have a lot of education work to do to build awareness and understanding. I think people– All people have somebody in their lives that they care about and love, and so there is a greater connection to the marriage issue because everybody can understand, at least conceptually, what it would mean to be barred at the hospital door for someone that they care about. I think we have a lot of work to do to really get people to understand that if you’ve never questioned your gender, if you've never had that kind of discrimination or experience to really build the empathy for that. So I think there is a path there. I don’t know that it’s longer than marriage, but I just know the work is a little bit different. And I’m really excited about it, because I think that’s ultimately about what Fair Wisconsin stands for, is that everybody should have a fair, safe and inclusive community, regardless of who you are.

Zac Schultz:

All right. Thanks for your time today.

Katie Belanger:

Thank you.