That didn't take long.
Yesterday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Office of Vital Records announced they were "holding" documents of same sex marriages and not processing them. Why? Because .... gay marriage. Governor Scott Walker has a very long and loud record of opposition to marriage equality and has appointed political cronies to control every agency lever of power that exists.
Today, they're singing a different tune and are finally registering those marriages.
Maybe they took a look at the overwhelming support for marriage equality in Wisconsin and realized that they're swimming against the tide of public opinion in an election year with a very close race for Walker. Maybe they took a look the statewide editorials supportive of marriage equality and a few that told them that the state is wrong to hold up registering the marriages (it's an election year, you know). Maybe they didn't like seeing this covered in the media (it's an election year) exposing them as extremist putzes.
Maybe they didn't like the coverage Walkers opponent, Mary Burke, is getting. She's been celebrating the court striking down a discriminatory law while their "marriage is between one man and one woman" meme sounds more and more pathetic. After fighting progress in court and with Biblical sound bites, this last hastily erected barrier to marriage equality made them look desperate and extremist.
Or maybe they took a look at the law:
Wisconsin law says, "The state registrar shall accept for registration, assign a date of acceptance, and index and preserve original certificates of birth and death, original marriage documents, original divorce reports (etc.)" The statute doesn't give state officials much discretion in accepting certificates but it also doesn't appear to include any firm deadline for them to do so.
(bolding is mine)
I have a feeling that the one thing that did have an impact is that this is an election year and the polls have the Gubernatorial election as a toss-up. If Walker dreams of becoming President, he has to win re-election in a state where his negatives hover around 47%. The harshest of his voter suppression laws, Voter ID, is on hold by the courts so his best hope is for a very low turnout along with tens of millions of dollars in dark money ads to propagandize potential voters.
The only thing missing from their last ditch blockade of marriage equality was a photo of Walker standing in the door to the Office of Vital Records repeating "marriage between one man and one woman today", "marriage between one man and one woman tomorrow", "marriage between one man and one woman forever" like George Wallace infamously did to prevent desegregation in the South.
No photo. Just a hasty retreat.
Gov. Scott Walker's administration is changing course and processing marriage certificates from same-sex couples who have married since a court ruling striking down the state's gay marriage ban on Friday.
"The Wisconsin Department of Health Services Office of Vital Records will fulfill all administrative duties required with regard to registering vital records. Once there is an ultimate decision made on this issue, the responsibility will be on individuals to make any necessary changes to their record," Health Services spokeswoman Stephanie Smiley said in an email.
The bolding is mine and even attorneys are having problems sorting out what that means.
(Madison Attorney Tamara Packard, who is also a Court Commissioner) Packard said she wasn't sure what state officials meant by saying that same-sex couples will be responsible for making changes to their marriage records.
"I don't know what changes they have in mind," Packard said. "That just seems odd."
(information in italics is my addition)
Right now, Judge Crabb refused to issue a stay on Monday, but is considering whether to issue a stay on her original order in the future. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has said that the issue remains in Crabb's jurisdiction and have refused to issue a stay of their own until Crabb's final decision is completed.
Most counties in Wisconsin are accepting and processing marriage licenses and many of them are waiving the waiting period so marriages can take place immediately. 300 or so couples have already exchanged their vows, many of them after decades long relationships.
Stay tuned.
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