An Unlikely Ally

There are a lot of things one might expect a Christian man who is married, a father of seven, and a lifelong Republican to do, but filing suit to get his state's ban against same-sex marriage declared unconstitutional is not one of them. However, that is exactly Bill McKoskey, a political science instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (by gosh), it doing these days.


From Box Turtle Bulletin:

Q: You’ve described yourself as a Christian, straight, married, father of
seven. You’re kind of an unlikely figure to be leading the charge on gay
rights.

A: I’ve also been a Republican all my life, and people have said,
that’s certainly a conflict but I don’t think so. The reason I don’t is because
it’s consistent with my view of human dignity and human rights as opposed to
government and the power of government. This is really an overreaching
amendment.

Q: What was your motivation to file suit?

A: I thought it was horrible when it first came out, because of the
implication of the precedent that it sets. If you don’t like gay people, who’s
next? Short people? Or maybe we can go back to black people or to Jews or
something. As a student of history and as an educated person, I know the history
and the implications of that mind-set. It began with that. I also have a gay
daughter. People have asked me, would you have filed this suit if it wasn’t for
your daughter? To be real honest, maybe not. Maybe I would have just ranted and
raved in my classrooms and written letters to the editor and fumed off to the
side. But because of her, it also became a personal issue and I feel like I’m
fighting for my kid. I’m a family man above all.