Wisconsin budget extends rights to gay couples

With the budget signed Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle, Wisconsin has become the first state with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions to put in place domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.

Wisconsin also is the first Midwestern state to legislatively put in place legal protections for same-sex couples, according to advocates.

But supporters of the ban still contend the creation of domestic partner benefits violates the constitutional amendment on marriage because it creates a legal status that approximates marriage — and they could file a legal challenge soon.

Starting Aug. 3, couples will be able to apply for a declaration of domestic partnership in their home counties. Partnerships would be dissolved through a termination process at the county clerk’s office.

Some counties and municipalities already

*ecognize domestic partnerships, including Dane County and the city of Milwaukee. But Maria Cadenas, executive director of the Cream City Foundation, an advocacy group on gay and transgender issues, said that for her and her partner, registering in Milwaukee only affected their gym membership.

See Wisconsin budget extends rights to gay couples

Duluth News Tribune

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Iowa’s GOP Lawmakers Take Aim at Gay Marriage

Opponents of the Iowa Supreme Court ruling last week allowing same-sex marriages said Friday that they would step up pressure on state lawmakers to block the marriages through a constitutional amendment and predicted political fallout for Democratic state leaders, including Gov. Chet Culver, if they did not join the opposition.

“This isn’t over, not even for this year,” said Bryan English, a spokesman for the Iowa Family Policy Center, which encouraged hundreds of opponents of same-sex marriages to meet and pray outside the State Capitol in Des Moines this week, and plans a similar rally next week. “Everyday folks who get up and go to work were shocked at what happened here, and it’s really gotten people activated.”

Since the court ruled unanimously on April 3 that an Iowa law banning the marriages was unconstitutional, opponents have been searching for a way to begin the process of amending the state’s Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Because, under Iowa law, that process would take two legislative sessions, however, even opponents acknowledge that nothing now seems likely to prevent Iowa from beginning to allow such marriages on April 27 after the ruling becomes final.

Still, inside the Capitol on Thursday, where supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage packed the gallery, Republican representatives twice tried to bring up a constitutional amendment on marriage. Democrats, who control both chambers, cited violations of House procedures in blocking the efforts.