A federal judge's ruling on Friday striking down the state ban on same-sex marriage in Wisconsin resulted in a race by gay couples to obtain marriage licenses and get married over the weekend before an expected hold on the ruling would be set in place, USA Today reported. While some county clerks had began accepting applications for married licenses on Monday to gay couples who wishes to get married, other couples were not so lucky as the rest of the clerks are awaiting an order from the court or state that would honor the judge's decision. The news outlet said that the court or the state in Wisconsin is appealing the ruling, which has deemed the gay marriage ban unconstitutional.
47 year-old Kathy Flores, who sought a marriage license to marry her partner, Ann Kendzierski, said, "We gathered in hopes of getting a license. We were told that would not be happening. We did tell them we weren't leaving until licenses were issued."
Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno had said that she decided to accept applications of marriage licenses to around 10 couples after failing to reach anyone in the Wisconsin Vital Records Office. Outagamie County attorney Joe Guidote advised the same thing to same-sex couples wo were seeking the licenses but added that she will not be waiving the five-day waiting period of the state. Flores later told USA Today that a couple she knew was able to get a waiver because a parent was very ill.
Waukesha County Clerk Kathleen Novack, on the other hand, decided to be sure about accepting the applications on Monday after talking to a court attorney, She added, "We want to make sure they're cautioned to a certain degree that they may have some legal issues ahead of them, but we decided that, well, let's just say that we have a lot of happy people here."
Department of Health Services spokeswoman Jennifer Miller, whose office oversees vital statistics, said they will not issue any guidance until directions from Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has been received by them.
University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said over the weekend that Van Hollen would be receiving a stay on the decision, but he believes the courts will ultimately recognize the marriages, "I'm cautiously optimistic that everything will be fine for those couples, but we just don't know right now. It's a terrible thing to have to say that, but it's where we are," he added.
