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You see, until we get this whole matter of DPs, civil unions and civil marriage reconciled at the fed level, the fundies will keep fighting back with bullsh*t like this. Wisconsin has a marriage amendment, so Gov. Jim Doyle tried to find a way to foster equality by establishing “domestic partnerships” in the 2010-11 state budget.
That unhinged the bigots at Wisconsin Family Action, which filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging the validity of DPs if the state has a marriage amendment on the books.
PRO-FAMILY GROUP DEFENDS THE PEOPLE, THE CONSTITUTION AND MARRIAGE
Board members of Wisconsin Family Action ask State Supreme Court to declare Gov. Doyle’s statewide, same-sex domestic partnership registry unconstitutional
MADISON — Today, Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), together with WFA board members Jerry Hiller and E. Lee Webster, through their attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, filed a petition for original action with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, asking the Court to declare the domestic partner registry Gov. Jim Doyle authored in the 2010-11 state budget unconstitutional and to issue a permanent injunction against it.
The petitioners filed for an original action with the Wisconsin Supreme Court because that is the most expeditious and efficient means possible to consider and resolve the critical constitutional issues raised by the registry.
The petitioners and their attorneys believe the domestic partner registry violates the Wisconsin Marriage Amendment approved by nearly 60% of Wisconsin voters in November 2006 by creating a legal status substantially similar to that of marriage in direct contravention to the Wisconsin Constitution, Article 13, Section 13.
“Elected officials should never pass laws that violate the will of Wisconsin voters who legitimately amended the state constitution in a fair election,” said Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action and lead petitioner in the lawsuit, Appling v.Doyle. “This new domestic partnership scheme is a sneaky assault on marriage from those who are determined to redefine marriage in Wisconsin.”
“The registry is precisely the type of marriage imitation that the constitutional amendment approved by Wisconsin voters was intended to prevent,” said ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum. “Those who wish to redefine marriage are attempting to evade the clear language of the state constitution.”
The petition states, in part:
“The form of domestic partnership created by the domestic partnership registry is prohibited by Art. XIII, sec. 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution by creating and requiring recognition of a legal status substantially similar to that of marriage….Such domestic partnerships are entered into by same-sex partners and are officially created and acknowledged in essentially the identical way that marriages are entered into by a man and woman and are officially created and acknowledged.”
“This registry is an assault on the people, the state constitution, the democratic process, and the institution of marriage, which the people voted so recently and so overwhelmingly to protect,” said Appling. “Gov. Doyle and the legislators who approved the registry in the budget are obviously more concerned with advancing the agenda of a fringe activist group than representing the people who elected them.”
“Our system of government serves no purpose if our elected officials can completely and capriciously ignore the will of the people with impunity,” said Appling. “A reasonable person observing this registry would easily conclude that it mimics marriage and is a test of the marriage amendment and the express will of the people. It borrows the requirements and eligibility standards for marriage, even to the point of requiring that the price of the registry certificate be the same as for a marriage license.”
Appling, Hiller and Webster are represented by Attorney Richard M. Esenberg, Attorney Michael D. Dean with First Freedoms Foundation, and attorneys Austin Nimocks and Brian Raum with the Alliance Defense Fund.
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Wisconsin Family Action, the legislative action arm of Wisconsin Family Council (www.wifamilycouncil.org), actively strengthens and preserves marriage, family, life and liberty in Wisconsin.
WFA, by the way, has set its legislative priorities for the year, including going after divorce, so heterosexual couples, you're on their list as well:
WFA will be working on a number of issues, including no-fault divorce reform, full legal protection for unborn children, ensuring the right of parents to make important decisions concerning their children, strengthening marriage and family in public policy, and ensuring children are safe from internet predators.
12 Comments
I’m okay with this actuallyOn the one hand it is obviously a petty move of the religious/conservative bigoted right, attempting to roll back any law or right gay Americans even look like they might achieve. However, on the other hand it actually looks like what it is not only to us but to the general populace. This really is a black eye on the part of this opposition movement in a country where many people have moved from the idea of never allowing same sex marriage to recognizing a need for domestic partnerships and protections for gay families.
Waves like this also rather confirm what some are whispering about Wisconsin and other midwest states opening new battlegrounds for the advancement of same sex marriage on the heals of the Iowa victory. The battle may be getting tougher but it is advancing.
This isn’t a “petty move”By WisconSin Family Council and Alliance Defense Fund. This IS WHAT THEY DO. THIS IS A REASON THEY EXIST. Anti gay everything.
In a way…this lawsuit is somewhat necessary in a state where the law says “something similar to marriage” can’t exist. They need to define what that means. It’s also in no way unexpected.
That is exactly what I was thinking.Everybody knows what this is about now. Nobody believes that it’s “pro-family” to tear families apart. Nobody believes that it’s “protecting marriage” to forcibly divorce people or keep other people from getting married. That whole charade is over.
We have marriage equality in six states (and kinda-sorta in a seventh) and every lie that the crazy bigots told about what would happen because of that never did.
The amazing thing is that anybody outside of the craziest bigots ever believed it would.
There are way too many craziets bigots out there.Over 5 million of them in California alone it turns out.
I don’t agree.Which is why I didn’t say that.
Believing a lie and voting for hate are two different things.
When the cover story of the lie is destroyed, the flimsy rationale for the voting for hate ceases to exist, and the voting for hate decreases as decent people come to realize what it is they’re really doing.
That’s important, that’s happening, and I stand by my above post.
What is the legal statusof the challenge to WI’s constitutional amendment that banned both marriage and civil unions — which it was argued is not legal to do?
“A sneaky assault on marriage…” What?To me a sneaky assault on marriage would be to burn all of the licenses issued for the last 25 years and declare them all void. The only assault here is on the LGBTs civil rights.
I agree with youMANY people in Ca. were confused by the wording of Prop 8- a yes vote meant no to gay marriages and a no meant yes to recognizing gay marriages. I can’t tell you how many gay marriage supporters I had to remind to vote NO on 8. It was damn confusing and the Yes on 8 people knew it. Not to mention that the no on 8 people produced signs which further confused everyone.
Hmmmmm……Trying to force legal protection for unborn children?
The Wisconsin Fascists had better look at the US Constitution — it’s going to take a full-fledged Amendment to revoke lines in the document!
Article II: “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President…”
Amendment 14: “1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States…”
These fascists act like the ones in a story I read looooong ago “Big Mother Is Watching You” — the second the woman in the story became pregnant, the state appointed a lawyer for the egg, who could dictate what the baby carrier could eat, drink, etc.
What the story didn’t go into was what happened if a baby carrier had a spontaneous abortion, ie miscarriage…
Wisconsin was one of the first states in the Union to outlaw sexual orientation discrimination, and I highly doubt Wisconsin Fascist Action will get very far!
That whirring sound they’re hearing in Madisonis Robert LaFollette spinning in his grave.
I wish I knew…was wondering the same thing myself. It’s obviously in limbo.