MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - Over 1,300 same-sex couples in Wisconsin applied for the state’s domestic partner benefits in the first 5 months they were offered. About one couple entered the same-sex registry for every 11 traditional marriages in the final 5 months of last year.
But the numbers fell off dramatically after an initial splurge when the registry was first offered last August. And in 7 counties, no gay couples signed up for the state benefits in 2009. In Milwaukee County, just over 200 same-sex couples got on the registry last year. But now, the state’s largest county only gets about one such request per week.
The governor and Legislature approved the registry last year as part of the state budget. 3 members of the Wisconsin Family Action group failed to get the Supreme Court to strike down the program. But the group is still deciding whether to file a lawsuit in circuit court, on the grounds that registry goes against the 2006 constitutional amendment which banned gay marriages and civil unions.
The group Fair Wisconsin takes issue with that, saying the registry only provides about 40 of the 200-plus legal benefits given to married couples. It does not let gay couples adopt children together, or file joint tax returns.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is expected to decide this summer on a technical challenge to the amendment. UW-Oshkosh professor Bill McConkey says the measure should have been presented to the voters in 2 questions instead of one, with separate bans on gay marriages and civil unions.
