Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked a federal judge on Friday to place on hold any future order she may make that would strike down the state’s ban on gay marriage — the second time this week the Republican expressed doubt in the state’s chances to succeed in defending the law.
And Gov. Scott Walker, who voted for the state’s ban and has been a longtime opponent of gay marriage, dodged questions Friday about whether he still supports the prohibition. He said that he didn’t know whether the ban would withstand legal challenges, and that he can’t judge that because he’s not an attorney.
The Republican governor also said he didn’t know how significant it would be for the state if gay marriage were legalized.
Van Hollen, during a Sunday interview that aired on WISN-TV, said that while he intended to aggressively defend Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on same-sex unions, he expected to lose in federal court given recent rulings across the country in favor of gay marriage.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in February on behalf of four gay couples challenging Wisconsin’s ban. The lawsuit contends that the ban denies gay couples the civil rights that other married couples enjoy.