Recognition of Same-sex Unions in Wisconsin - History

History

August 17, 2003: Wisconsin State Assembly introduces a statute that would have banned same-sex marriage.

October 23, 2003: AB475 passes by a vote of 68–29 and is send to the Wisconsin State Senate.

November 5, 2003: Wisconsin State Senate passes AB475 by a vote of 22–10.

November 10, 2003: Governor Jim Doyle vetoes proposed legisation.

November 12, 2003: The Assembly attempts to override the Governor's Veto which failed by one vote, 63–33.

March 5, 2004: The Wisconsin State Assembly approves, by a vote of 68–27, a state constitutional amendment reading:

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.

March 12, 2004: The Wisconsin State Senate votes 20–13 to pass that state's amendment, which must still be passed again in next year's legislature, and be voted on in a state-wide referendum.

December 6, 2005: The Wisconsin State Senate votes a second time in favor of the amendment. The vote is 19–14 and is along party lines.

February 28, 2006: The Wisconsin State Assembly votes for the second time in favor of the amendment. The question appeared on ballots statewide on November 7, 2006.

November 7, 2006: Wisconsin voters passes the amendment by a margin of 59.4%–40.6%.

February 17, 2009: Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle proposes legislation for same-sex partnerships in Wisconsin.

April 9, 2009: The Wisconsin Supreme Court is asked in McConkey v. Van Hollen to rule on whether or not Wisconsin Referendum 1 (2006), which banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state, is constitutional. William McConkey, a political science instructor, has claimed that the measure violated the state's constitution because it proposed more than one question in a single ballot proposal, which is illegal under Wisconsin law.

May 14, 2009: The Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to hear McConkey's appeal and gave the parties 30 days to file briefs. The court will decide two questions. First it must decide if McConkey, as an individual voter, has standing to sue. Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen has claimed that he does not. If it finds he does have standing, it will then rule whether the ballot measure did illegally present two questions. In certifying the case, the Supreme Court said it acquired jurisdiction of “the entire appeal, which includes all issues, not merely the issues certified or the issue for which the court accepts the certification.”

June 13, 2009: Wisconsin Assembly passed budget, by vote of 50–48, which includes domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.

June 17, 2009: Wisconsin Senate passes a budget, by vote of 17–16, that establishes a domestic partnership registry for same-sex couples.

June 29, 2009: Governor Jim Doyle signed the budget.

July 23, 2009: Three members of Wisconsin Family Action filed a petition for an original action in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Appling v. Doyle, seeking a declaration that the domestic partner registry is unconstitutional under the state's Marriage Protection Amendment.

August 3, 2009: Domestic Partnership law goes into effect.

November 3, 2009: Oral arguments are heard in McConkey v. Van Hollen.

November 4, 2009: The Wisconsin Supreme Court decides Appling v. Doyle, rejecting Wisconsin Family Action's legal challenge to domestic partnerships.

June 30, 2010: The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules 7–0 in McConkey that the ballot measure for Wisconsin's marriage amendment was proper.

May 13, 2011: Governor Scott Walker asked to withdraw the state's defense of the domestic partnership registry.

June 20, 2011: Dane County Judge Dan Moeser rules that the domestic partnership registry does not violate the state constitution, finding that the state "does not recognize domestic partnership in a way that even remotely resembles how the state recognizes marriage".

January 1, 2012: Wisconsin Family Action submits all briefs to the Court of Appeals.

May 3, 2012: District 2 Court of Appeals Judge Mark Gundrum, the coauthor of Wisconsin's 2006 amendment banning both same-sex marriages and civil unions, was recused from hearing the case.

July 5, 2012: District 4 Court of Appeals asks the Supreme Court to take up the matter due to "a state-wide significance".

September 17, 2012: The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects WFA's lawsuit challenging domestic partnerships.

December 20, 2012: A three-judge panel of the District 4 Court of Appeals unanimously upholds Wisconsin's domestic partner registry, affirming a lower court's ruling.