ACLU files lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s
Marriage Protection Amendment
“Keeping marriage between a man and a woman
is vital for future generations.”
-WFA president Julaine Appling
Madison — Four same-sex couples sued Gov. Scott Walker and other public officials Monday in an attempt to overturn Wisconsin’s seven-year-old amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage.
The lawsuit, which Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen immediately pledged to fight, also seeks to block the state’s obscure “marriage evasion” law that makes it a crime for couples here to get married in another state if the marriage wouldn’t be recognized in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Family Action president Julaine Appling responded today stating, “We aren’t surprised by this lawsuit; those determined to redefine marriage have challenged a number of marriage protection amendments in other states since the US Supreme Court struck down a portion of the federal Defense of marriage Act this past June. We believe our marriage protection amendment language is strong and will withstand constitutional scrutiny.”
Appling further concluded that Wisconsin Family Action may become engaged in the fight with the ACLU’s lawsuit, just as it’s fought against same-sex “marriage” in the past. “WFA championed traditional marriage and worked hard to defend and promote it in the state. We would, at a minimum, do a friend of the court brief,” Appling stated, “Wisconsinites gave their opinions when they voted in favor of traditional marriage by nearly 60% in 2006. I believe that these voters expressed what they believed, what they wanted, and that they understood the amendment.”
