MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A gay state lawmaker ripped Republican bills that would define marriage in Wisconsin as a contract only between a man and woman, calling the measure bigoted and hypocritical during a combative public hearing recently.

The bills would treat gays and lesbians like second-class citizens, Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, said at the hearing before a joint meeting of the Senate Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy Committee and the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The committees did not vote on the bills.

Divorce causes more damage to marriage as an institution, he said.

“It’s about hypocrisy. It’s about bigotry. It’s about hatred. It’s about prejudice. This bill should not be before us at all,” said Carpenter, who serves on the Senate committee.

Wisconsin law already defines marriage as a civil contract between a husband and wife. Identical bills in the Senate and Assembly would amend state statutes to say that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be recognized in Wisconsin.

Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, chairman of the Assembly committee and co-sponsor of that chamber’s bill, and Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, a co-sponsor of the Senate version, said the changes are needed as debate over same-sex marriages grows nationwide. Lawmakers must change the statutes so activist judges can’t interpret the husband-and-wife language loosely, they said.

“This is a time when society needs to reinforce the institution of marriage, not reinvent it,” Gundrum said. “Our law creates potential for ambiguity.”

Rep. Tom Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, said no court in Wisconsin in 100 years has interpreted marriage as anything other than between a man or woman.

Dozens of people jammed the hearing room. Many waited nearly six hours to speak on the bills as the two committees took public testimony on four other bills earlier in the day.

The air was thick with tension by the time testimony began on the marriage bills, fueled in part by a statement that Action Wisconsin, a statewide gay rights group, released saying seven Republican co-sponsors of the bills have been divorced, including Senate committee chairman Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire.

“Wisconsin’s self-appointed morality police deserve scrutiny,” Action Wisconsin president Tim O’Brien said in a statement.

Zien said in response that if the group wants to “throw gasoline” on the issues it was their prerogative.

Before the hearing, Gundrum asked the crowd to keep their comments centered on the bills rather than “personal shots.”

At one point the hearing turned into a shouting match between Zien, Carpenter and Hebl.

Zien and Gundrum said after the hearing they didn’t know when their committees might vote on the measures.

The contentious tone held for much of the five-hour hearing. Debate ranged from people arguing God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman to accusations the bills were just another insult to gays and lesbians and another roadblock for domestic partners to obtain health insurance benefits.

Many in the crowd stood and turned their backs on speakers who supported the bills. Some chuckled out loud at their comments.

The Rev. William Bartz, pastor at Monona Oaks Community Church, a non-denominational church in Madison, said the Bible and nature define marriage as between a man and a woman and so should lawmakers.

“Failure to do so can only lead to more cultural confusion,” Bartz said.

But Kathryn Sweet, 17, of Madison, compared the struggle for acceptance of same-sex marriages to the fight for women’s suffrage and racial equality.

“If these bills pass we’ll have to change the state motto to ‘Backward,”’ she said, referring to Wisconsin’s “Forward” motto.