Really this is no surprise, but Wisconsin Family Action, who helped push the Gay Marriage Amendment is filing a lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin to block some domestic partnership rights being granted to citizens in this state:
Supporters of Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to declare a system of recognizing domestic partnerships unconstitutional.Under a provision that was part of the budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed in June, couples will be able to apply for a declaration of domestic partnership with their county of residence starting next month....Under the budget provision, couples will be offered 43 of the more than 200 rights and benefits extended to married couples, such as allowing domestic partners to take family and medical leave to care for a seriously ill partner, make end-of-life decisions, and have hospital visitation rights.
What I find most interesting about this story, is that I distinctly remember groups, such as Fair Wisconsin, warning that the Gay Marriage Amendment would do more than simply ban gay marriage, but that it would also be used to keep domestic partners from receiving many benefits.
Conservative groups were all up in arms over this accusation, saying that it was just scare tactics. In fact, the very group that filed the lawsuit, Wisconsin Family Action, said this when the amendment was being debated:
Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, lead Senate sponsor of the proposed ban, said in a recent newspaper guest column that "liberal activists" were exaggerating the threat to domestic partner benefits.He said, "The proposed constitutional amendment would not prohibit state or local governments or a private entity from setting up a legal construct to provide privileges or benefits such as health insurance benefits, pension benefits, joint tax return filing or hospital visitation to same-sex or unmarried couples." Similarly, Julaine Appling, executive director of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, the leading advocacy group promoting the same-sex marriage ban, said domestic partner benefits were not threatened.
Essentially, in order to gain the wide support required for the amendment to pass, these conservative groups tried to assure people that they could somehow ban gay marriage, without actually restricting their rights. That somehow, all that would happen is that gay people would be allowed to use the "M" word. Of course, that was an outright lie. The very things that are in this proposal, are the very things that everyone said they didn't want to threaten anyway.
Apparently, now that the amendment passed, and the votes are no longer required, their opinion has changed.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in anyway.