Domestic partnership in Wisconsin

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Domestic partnerships in Wisconsin afford limited rights to same-sex couples. They have been recognized in Wisconsin since August 3, 2009. Domestic partnerships in Wisconsin provide select rights, such as the ability to inherit a partner's estate in the absence of a will, hospital and jail visitation, and the ability to access family medical leave to care for a sick partner. Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry does not provide for two-parent adoptions by persons of the same sex, and it confers far fewer rights, duties and protections than are associated with marriage. Wisconsin ended its domestic partnership registry on April 1, 2018. [1] [2]

Contents

Wisconsin was the first state in the Midwest to enact any form of recognition for same-sex unions. Of the several states that had bans on same-sex marriage and civil unions, Wisconsin was the first and only one to enact limited domestic partnerships. [3]

Domestic partner registry

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle proposed legislation for same-sex partnerships in Wisconsin on February 17, 2009. [4] On June 13, the Assembly passed, by vote of 50–48, a state budget that incorporated domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. [5] [6] The Senate passed the budget on June 17 by vote of 17–16. [7] [8] Doyle signed the budget legislation on June 29. [9] The Domestic Partnership law took effect on August 3. [10]

Enumerated rights

A domestic partnership can be registered at the county level, with couples having to sign a legal declaration of their commitment. To be eligible for a domestic partnership, two individuals must both be at least 18 years old, share a common residence, not be nearer of kin than second cousins, and neither party can be married or in another domestic partnership with anyone else. [11]

Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry provides 43 rights and protections to same-sex couples, in contrast to more than 200 state-level rights and over 1,138 federal-level protections afforded to heterosexual couples. These rights include:

Lawsuit

On July 23, 2009, before the Domestic Partnership Law took effect, three members of Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) filed a petition for an original action in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, originally Appling v. Doyle, seeking a declaration that the domestic partner registry is unconstitutional under the state's Marriage Protection Amendment. [12] WFA had been the primary advocate for that constitutional amendment. WFA said that the state's domestic partner registry creates a "legal status" substantially similar to marriage, while voters intended to preserve a "conjugal model" of marriage. WFA agreed that Wisconsin's domestic partner registry provides far fewer rights, duties, and protections than marriage, but contended that by granting "legal status" to same-sex couples the registry legislation violated the "intention of the voters". [13]

When the Court declined to take the case, WFA filed its suit in Dane County District Court in 2010. The state hired outside counsel to defend the registry law, but on May 13, 2011, Governor Scott Walker asked to withdraw the state's defense of the domestic partnership registry. [14] Fair Wisconsin, an LGBT advocacy organization, intervened to defend the registry, assisted by Lambda Legal. [15]

On June 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". [16] On December 20, 2012, a three-judge panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Wisconsin's domestic partner registry, affirming Moeser's ruling. [15] On July 31, 2014, in a unanimous decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry. [17] Their decision in the case, now known as Appling v. Walker , cited statements made by proponents of the constitutional amendment at issue "that the Amendment simply would not preclude a mechanism for legislative grants of certain rights to same-sex couples". [18]

See also

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Same-sex marriage has been fully recognized in Minnesota since August 1, 2013. Same-sex marriages have been recognized if performed in other jurisdictions since July 1, 2013, and the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on August 1, 2013. After 51.9% of state voters rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in November 2012, the Minnesota Legislature passed a same-sex marriage bill in May 2013, which Governor Mark Dayton signed on May 14, 2013. Minnesota was the second state in the Midwest, after Iowa, to legalize marriage between same-sex couples, and the first in the region to do so by enacting legislation rather than by court order. Minnesota was the first state to reject a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, though Arizona rejected one in 2006 that banned all legal recognition and later approved one banning only marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Nevada since October 9, 2014, when a federal district court judge issued an injunction against Nevada's enforcement of its same-sex marriage ban, acting on order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit had ruled two days earlier that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Same-sex marriage was previously banned by an amendment to the Constitution of Nevada adopted in 2002. The statutory and constitutional bans were repealed in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

The U.S. state of Colorado has provided limited recognition of same-sex unions in the form of designated beneficiary agreements since July 1, 2009, and as civil unions since May 1, 2013. Same-sex marriage was legalized on October 7, 2014.

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<i>Appling v. Walker</i>

Appling v. Walker was a state court lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry. The action began as a petition for original action before the Wisconsin Supreme Court asking the Court for a declaration that the registry is unconstitutional and for a permanent injunction against the registry, which began registering couples on August 3, 2009. On November 4, 2009, the Court declined to take the case. Petitioners then refiled in state circuit court and the court ruled in June 2011 that the registry is constitutional. That decision was affirmed by a state appeals court in December 2012, and by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July 2014.

Fair Wisconsin, previously called Equality Wisconsin is a 501c4 nonprofit civil rights political advocacy organization dedicated to securing equal rights under the law for Wisconsin's LGBTQ+, transgender and non-binary community. The organization focuses on expanding rights for LGBTQ+ and transgender Wisconsinites, most notably working to enshrine same sex marriage protections, HIV/Aids Advocacy and adding gender identity to the states non-discrimination laws. The organization was founded in 1994 as LGBT Center Advocates, consolidating elements of the Domestic Partnership Task Force, the Human Rights League, and the LGBT Alliance for Equality. The organization claims several accomplishments in areas of domestic partner recognition, non-discrimination, and securing greater resources for LGBTQ+ social services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Wisconsin</span>

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References

  1. ↑ "Wisconsin Legislature: Chapter 770". docs.legis.wisconsin.gov. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Latest: Panel Votes to End Domestic Partner Registry". US News & World Report. June 15, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Forster, Stacey (July 1, 2009). "Wisconsin to recognize domestic partnerships". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  4. ↑ 2009 Assembly Bill 75 Archived July 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , passim.
  5. ↑ Assembly Bill 75, Journal of the Wisconsin Assembly, June 11, 2009 [ permanent dead link ], p. 263–264. The vote was taken after midnight on June 13.
  6. ↑ "All-Nighter: Assembly Passes Budget". Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ Assembly Bill 75, Wisconsin Senate Journal, June 17, 2009 [ permanent dead link ], p. 218.
  8. ↑ "18". Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
  9. ↑ Pitsch, Mark (June 29, 2009). "Doyle signs budget, vetoes binding referendum on RTA tax". The Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2009.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ "Domestic Partnership" (PDF). Budget Brief 09-2. Wisconsin Legislature. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  11. ↑ 2009 Wisconsin Act 28 [ permanent dead link ], s. 775, p. 186.
  12. ↑ "Pro-Family Group Defends the People, the Constitution and Marriage [ permanent dead link ]" (press release), Wisconsin Family Action, July 23, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Decision and Order" (PDF). Dane County Circuit Court. June 20, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Gov. Walker Wants to Stop Defending Domestic Partnership Registry in Court". WSAW/Associated Press. May 16, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  15. 1 2 Marley, Patrick (December 21, 2012). "Wisconsin appeals court upholds domestic partner registry". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Judge rules Wisconsin same sex registry is constitutional". Reuters. June 20, 2011. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds state's domestic partner registry". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. July 31, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  18. ↑ DeFour, Matthew (July 31, 2014). "High court unanimously upholds Wisconsin domestic partner registry". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
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