Wisconsin Supreme Court To Rule On Gay Marriage Amendment Case

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to rule Wednesday on the validity of the 2006 constitutional amendment which banned gay marriage.

In November 2009, the Wisconsin Court heard arguments in the case McConkey v. Van Hollen which contends that the state’s ban on gay marriage should be overturned because state lawmakers didn’t follow the right procedure to amend the state constitution.

The constitutional marriage amendment was approved by 59 percent of Wisconsin voters in November 2006.  The amendment reads: “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”

When voters got the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, they were asked one question with two parts, and passed it.  But that makes the vote invalid, attorney Lester Pines told the justices.  Voters must be asked separately about every change proposed to the constitution.

Assistant Attorney General Lewis Beilin disagreed telling the justices that the state constitution was correctly amended because the two parts of the amendment question was closely related.

In 2008 a Dane County Circuit judge ruled the amendment question was indeed valid and its purpose was “the preservation of the unique and historical status of marriage.”

University of Wisconsin professor William McConkey, who filed the lawsuit, appealed the circuit court’s decision to the state’s high court.

Even if the court overturns the constitutional ban on gay marriage, it will still be illegal because the state law defines marriage as a union between a husband and wife.

Related posts:

1. Wisconsin Supreme Court Affirms Traditional Marriage Vote
2. Wisconsin Domestic Partnership Registry Opens Despite Lawsuit
3. Texas Appeals Court Hears Gay Divorce Case
4. Iowa Supreme Court gives Ok for Gay Marriage
5. California Pro-Gay Marriage Campaign Launches

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