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WI: Governor Doyle Asks Judge to Retain Domestic Partner Benefits

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Wisconsin Domestic PartnershipsGovernor Jim Doyle has asked a judge not to throw out Wisconsin’s legal benefits for unmarried couples.

Instead, the governor wants the court to drop a lawsuit filed by Wisconsin Family Action, which claims that the one-year-old domestic partner registry creates a legal status similar to gay marriage.

The pro-family group is the same one that encouraged 59 percent of Wisconsin voters to pass a constitutional amendment in 2006 to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions.

Full Story from WTAQ

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

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WI: Green Bay Decides Not to Join Lawsuit Against Domestic Partner Law

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Gay rights advocates claimed victory Wednesday after Green Bay aldermen dropped plans to support a lawsuit aimed at overturning domestic partner benefits at the state level. Alderman Shae Sortwell, who had proposed aligning City Hall with the legal challenge, said the city instead should place its faith in newly elected state leaders who are opposed to benefits for same-sex couples.

Gov.-elect Scott Walker has opposed such benefits and was quoted during the campaign as saying he would work as governor to undo the same arrangement being challenged in the suit.

At Sortwell’s urging, the City Council voted 9-2 to postpone action on the issue indefinitely.

Full Story from the Green Bay Press Gazette

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

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WI: Lieutenant Governor Candidate’s Gay Uncle Thinks She’s Not Sorry for Anti Gay Comments

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Rebecca KleefischRebecca Kleefisch’s gay uncle doubts she’s sorry for likening gay marriage to marrying a dog or a table, The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reported. “I was incredibly disappointed,” Chris Pfauser, who’s been in an openly gay relationship with Rob Gow for 28 years, said.

The GOP candidate for Wisconsin lieutenant governor apologized for her remarks on Thursday. Kleefisch, the running mate of gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, made her remarks before winning the Republican primary on Sept. 14, but Wisconsin-based gay rights group Fair Wisconsin admonished her comments in a recent email to backers.

Speaking on Christian-based radio WVCY in January, Kleefisch objected to Wisconsin’s domestic partnership law signed by Governor Jim Doyle. The gay-inclusive law offers registered couples 43 rights, most of which center around estate planning and hospital visitation rights.

Full Story from On Top Magazine

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

WI: Green Bay Worker’s Domestic Partner Request Triggers Backlash

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Wisconsin Domestic PartnershipsThis is not what David Fowles expected when he asked the city of Green Bay to consider granting domestic partner health care benefits this summer. The longtime city employee has been snubbed in his efforts to change city policy so that an employee’s same-sex partner can qualify for the same medical and dental insurance coverage extended to other employees’ families.

Now some aldermen want the city to align itself with a conservative group that is working to undo the limited domestic partner benefits mandated at the state level. Fowles, a truck driver in the Public Works Department, says he never imagined that his request would backfire so badly. “It’s mind-boggling,” he said. “It’s like you’re taking progress and you’re tearing it down.”

The City Council on Wednesday will consider a proposal to support Wisconsin Family Action in its lawsuit challenging the state’s domestic partner registry. Approved by state lawmakers and enacted in 2009, the registry allows same-sex couples to qualify for certain employment benefits, including family leave for medical emergencies.

Full Story from The Green Bay Press Gazette

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

WI: Lieutenant Governor Candidate: Gay Marriage Will Lead to Marrying Tables and Chairs

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Wisconsin Gay MarriageEver think “Wow, that’s one sexy little lamp, I’d like to commit myself to her forever!” Well, a lieutenant governor candidate from Wisconsin firmly believes that same sex marriage will lead to people marrying furniture and other inanimate objects. You know, because saying it would lead to polygamy or animal marriage just wasn’t shocking enough.

Via Blogging Blue, a newscast report on Scott Walker’s running mate Rebecca Kleefisch’s strange thoughts on gay marriage plays a radio clip of her saying:

The Gay Marriage debate heated up again today thanks to some controversial remarks made by one candidate on the trail. Kleefisch: “This is a slippery slope. In addition to that, at what point are we going to ok marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table or this, you know, chair? Can we marry dogs?”

Full Story from Care2

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

WI: Gay Couples defend Domestic Partner Law

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

A gay rights group and five gay couples are hoping to defend Wisconsin’s domestic partner registry against a legal challenge. Fair Wisconsin and the couples filed a motion Friday asking to intervene in the lawsuit brought by Wisconsin Family Action in August.

The lawsuit seeks to strike down the registry created by lawmakers last year that gives same-sex couples some legal rights such as the ability to visit each other in the hospital and take medical leave to care for an ill partner.

The lawsuit brought by the social conservative group argues the domestic partnerships are too much like marriage and conflict with Wisconsin’s ban on gay marriage.

Full Story from Gazette Xtra

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

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Green Bay, Wisconsin May Extend Domestic Partner Benefits to City Employees

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

The City of Green Bay could be extending benefits to the domestic partners of city employees. The issue hasn’t reached the full council yet, but Tuesday night the Personnel Committee tried to better define the debate.

“When you commit to a person you care for them and that’s what domestic partner benefits would be all about,” longtime Public Works Department employee David Fowles said. “It’s caring for the person you love the most.”

Fowles came to the meeting armed with determination and his domestic partner registration.

Full Story from Fox11

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

WI: Green Bay City Worker Requests Domestic Partner Benefits

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

A longtime truck driver has become the first city of Green Bay employee to request health insurance coverage for a domestic partner. The request could prompt a policy change making Green Bay the first municipality in Northeastern Wisconsin to provide benefits for employees’ same-sex partners.

The De Pere School District is the only other public employer in Brown County known to offer such benefits.

David Fowles, who drives a truck for Green Bay’s Public Works Department, said he wants to break down the barrier to benefit his own partner, as well as those of other city workers. “If nobody ever asks for this, it’s never going to happen,: he said.

Full Story from the Greenbay Press Gazette

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

WI: Domestic Partnership Registry Under Attack Again

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Supporters of the state’s domestic partner registry say another court challenge is not surprising.

Wisconsin Family Action on Wednesday filed suit in Dane County Court, claiming the state domestic partner registry started one year ago violates a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Katie Belanger with Fair Wisconsin says the move was expected, after the state Supreme Court dismissed a similar challenge from the group last November.

Wisconsin Family Action claims the registry is unconstitutional because the requirements to sign up are similar to those of a traditional marriage. Belanger says that’s far from the case, because the registry only offers only about a quarter of the state protections granted to opposite sex couples through marriage and none of the federal rights.

Full Story from WRN.com

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

WI: NOM Tour Draws Largest Crowd Yet – 54 People

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) saw its largest crowd yet Tuesday in Madison, Wisconsin, but counter demonstrators continued to outnumber NOM supporters. In its tenth stop, officials behind NOM’s Summer for Marriage Tour 2010 walled off hundreds of demonstrators from their rally. One head count put NOM supporters at about 54 and counter protesters at 466.

This after NOM supporters were outnumbered Monday in Indianapolis, Indiana 3 to 1. Other stops have been equally sparse, some with as few as 20 supporters.

The mood turned somber in Indianapolis when a sign calling for violence against gay men and lesbians was spotted in the crowd.

Full Story from On Top Magazine

Click here for gay marriage resources in Wisconsin.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.