Appling Declares Victory for "Institution of Marriage"

Vote Yes for Marriage supporters reveled in their victory tonight and President Julaine Appling, speaking at the Monona Oaks Church, vowed to continue her fight to preserve the institution of marriage for "the future generation."

"The people of Wisconsin took it seriously," Appling declared. "They didn't let the confusing ads by the opponents sway them."

The amendment passed by a margin of 58 percent to 42 percent, with just more than half of the vote in, despite over $3.5 million in spending and heavy TV advertising by the opponent group Fair Wisconsin.

Supporters of all ages stood around a wedding cake at the church, complete with mini bride and groom, outfitted in military fatigues. Wedding pictures also adorned the walls of the church room, adjacent to the sanctuary.

Despite the large victory, she said a "huge percent of votes" that went to oppose the amendment should have been awarded to the "yes cause," because of what she called Fair Wisconsin's "misleading phone calls."

Appling said the "experiments" in Massachusetts and Vermont have yet to prove that a same-sex couple can produce a family unit with a "dynamic that is equivalent" to the dynamic seen in traditional families.

-- By Rebecca Kurz