Another gay marriage ban is struck down
Same-sex couples marry in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. – Same-sex couples began getting married in Wisconsin on Friday shortly after a federal judge struck down the state’s gay marriage ban and despite confusion over the effect of the ruling.
Clerks in Madison and Milwaukee began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, a little over an hour after the judge released her ruling. Judges were on hand at both courthouses to perform ceremonies.
“I’m still up in the clouds!” Shari Roll said shortly after she married Renee Currie just a block from the state Capitol.
Court officials conducted the marriages even though Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said the ruling did not clear the way for weddings to begin and sought an emergency order in federal court to stop them. Van Hollen said confusion and uncertainty had resulted from the judge’s decision and the status quo must be preserved.
Clerks were keeping their offices open until 9 p.m. in Madison and Milwaukee to issue marriage licenses. Sixty-one marriage licenses were issued in Madison over about four hours. The offices in both cities planned to be open today.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb declared the gay marriage ban unconstitutional. But she also created confusion by asking the couples who sued to describe exactly what they wanted her to block in the law. She said she would later decide whether to put her decision on hold while it is appealed.
Attorney Larry Dupuis, who represented the couples who sued, said the ACLU would respond to Crabb next week, and he expected her to then issue an order for the state to allow marriages.
Voters amended the Wisconsin Constitution in 2006 to outlaw gay marriage or anything substantially similar. The ACLU filed a lawsuit this February saying the ban violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. It said the eight couples named in the suit and others like them had been deprived of legal protections that married couples enjoy simply because of their gender.
Gay rights activists have won 15 consecutive lower court cases since a landmark Supreme Court ruling last summer, with Wisconsin being the latest. Many of those rulings are being appealed.