News & Commentary

Four same-sex couples sued Gov. Scott Walker and other public officials Monday in an attempt to overturn the state's seven-year-old amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage.

The American Civil Liberties Union is going to federal court Monday in Wisconsin, suing Gov. Scott Walker and other officials to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples there.

A group of same-sex couples has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Wisconsin's ban on gay marriage. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit for the couples in federal court in Madison on Monday morning. The lawsuit argues that 17 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex couples to marry. It goes on to say Wisconsin's ban deprives same-sex couples of the legal protections afforded married couples for no reason other than their sexual orientation and gay Wisconsin couples who go out of state to marry could face prosecution when they return.

Four same-sex couples represented by the American Civil Liberties Union sued Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and other state top administration officials on Monday, challenging Wisconsin’s seven-year-old ban on gay marriage.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was sued by four same-sex couples seeking the right to marry in the state and to overturn a law that threatens them with imprisonment if they wed in another state.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals today announced that the state’s law granting domestic partnership protections to same-sex couples will be upheld.

Although the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin declined to comment on partisan issues, spokesperson Stacy Harbaugh said the group has various LGBT campaigns at the state level. These include a lawsuit against Wisconsin Family Action and an anti-bullying campaign in Milwaukee, where the ACLU of Wisconsin has a large youth program. “While politicians at the federal level are arguing about these very important issues, there are rights that still need to be defended at the state level, and we are involved with that,” Harbaugh said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit today upheld the right of transgender people to receive medical care while they are incarcerated.

Judge Daniel Moeser resoundingly rejected today an attack on Wisconsin’s Domestic Partner Registry brought by Board members of Wisconsin Family Action, an organization whose members pushed for Wisconsin’s anti-Marriage constitutional amendment in 2006. Despite securing passage of the amendment by assuring voters that domestic partnerships would still be allowed, the Wisconsin Family Action plaintiffs asserted that the anti-Marriage amendment prohibited the Domestic Partner law passed by the legislature in 2008 to provide crucial but very limited protections to same-sex couples.