Federal judge puts Wisconsin gay marriages on hold

Same-sex marriages have been put on hold in Wisconsin by a federal judge who last week struck down the state's gay marriage ban as unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's ruling Friday means that gay marriages, which have been taking place across the state for a week, will end while the case is pending.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen requested that Crabb's ruling be held up. Crabb last week declared the state's ban unconstitutional, but did not tell the state how to proceed. On Friday she issued an order saying the weddings are legal, but then put it on hold per Van Hollen's request.

All but 12 of Wisconsin's 72 county clerks began issuing licenses to same-sex couples after Crabb's ruling last week, even though Van Hollen had argued that was premature.

Allen Rasmussen, 46, and Keith Kitsembel, 49, who have been together for 14 years, were part of a silent protest Friday outside the Portage County courthouse. Rasmussen said they tried unsuccessfully eight or nine times since Monday to get a marriage license there. He said he hopes the judge clarifies her ruling soon.

"We are just not willing to give up," Rasmussen said. "Just because she puts a stay on it doesn't mean it's over. The fight will continue. We could easily go to Illinois or Minnesota but we want to stay in our home state."

As of midday Thursday, 555 same-sex couples had gotten married in the state, based on an Associated Press survey of all 72 counties. There was a rush to get married in Madison and Milwaukee on June 6, when Crabb had released her decision, and then again earlier this week throughout the state as other counties began issuing licenses.

Van Hollen said Thursday that same-sex couples with marriage licenses aren't legally married because Crabb hasn't issued an order telling county clerks how to interpret her ruling striking down the law. Van Hollen also said district attorneys could charge clerks who issued licenses with a crime.

Crabb reiterated in Friday's 30-minute hearing that clerks were issuing licenses to same-sex couples on their own.

"I never told them not to and I never told them to do it," Crabb said.

The ACLU and others say because Crabb found the law unconstitutional, and did not order clerks not to issue licenses, they can legally give them to couples seeking to get married.

Wisconsin's constitutional amendment, approved by 59 percent of voters in 2006, outlawed gay marriage or anything substantially similar. The ACLU said the ban violated the constitutional rights of eight gay couples to equal protection and due process, and Crabb agreed.

Gay rights activists have won 15 consecutive lower court cases since a landmark Supreme Court ruling last summer, with Wisconsin being the latest.

A final ruling on Wisconsin's case likely is months away.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in during its next session beginning in October.

The Associated Press