Wisconsin Court Rejects Gay Rights Challenge

On Tuesday, Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit that challenged the state’s domestic partner registry, but has yet to offer an explanation for the decision.

Since the registry became effective in August, over 900 couples have signed up in order to receive benefits offered therein.

In July, the anti-gay, conservative Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), filed a lawsuit under the premise the registry somehow violated the state constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. The pressed the issue as one of significant importance so they asked the state Supreme Court to take it up directly without going through trial or appeals courts first.

Richard Esenberg and Michael Dean, both attorneys for WFA, stated they were disappointed in the decision but don’t plan to drop the issue as they now plan to file a similar suit at the trial court level. Perhaps back peddling will work for the anti-gay organization, but it’s not very probable a lower court would try to reverse the supreme court’s ruling.