Lawsuit
Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), the primary advocate for Wisconsin's 2006 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, challenged the state's domestic partner registry and claimed it creates a "legal status" substantially similar to marriage, saying that voters intended to preserve a "conjugal model" of marriage or a social scheme solely intended to facilitate the sexual nature of a heterosexual relationship. According to WFA, domestic partnerships violate this "intention of the voters". WFA agreed that Wisconsin's domestic partner registry provides far fewer rights, duties, and protections than marriage, but contended that the main issue was the granting of "legal status" to same-sex couples.
On July 20, 2011, Dane County Judge Dan Moeser ruled 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". He characterized Chapter 770 as a legal construct to provide enumerated rights to committed same-sex couples. A state appeals court confirmed that ruling in a unanimous decision on December 21, 2012.
Read more about this topic: Recognition Of Same-sex Unions In Wisconsin