November 22nd, 2009
 

365 Gay: News

Wis. same-sex couples sign up as domestic partners


(Madison, Wis.) Same-sex couples in Wisconsin have started signing up for the state’s new domestic partnership registry.

Monday was their first chance to sign up and obtain dozens of the same legal protections as spouses.

Fifty-six-year-old Janice Czyscon (SIZE’-kon) and her partner of 29 years, 57-year-old Crystal Hyslop, arrived at the Dane County offices in Madison at 5:12 a.m. and waited in the rain until the doors opened.

Wisconsin is the first Midwestern state to enact protections for same-sex couples through legislation. Gov. Jim Doyle proposed the plan, and the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved it in the state budget.

Some who want the law invalidated say it conflicts with the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage.


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  • Facebook User Said: August 5th, 2009 at 9:18 am
    • This from Joe Mirabella:

      Wisconsin started registering domestic partnerships yesterday. Wisconsin passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, so domestic partnerships are the closest to marriage same-sex couples can expect to get until the ban is overturned by the voters, or more likely the Federal Supreme Court. Domestic partnerships were the consolation prize for gays and lesbians in states that have over zealous right wing activists who will jump at the opportunity to prevent gays and lesbians from having full marriage equality. It was the “sanctity of marriage” argument that won them 30 state constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage. Some in the gay community thought domestic partnerships were a safe alternative with the philosophy, “if it is the word that bothers them, let’s call it something else.”

      It is not the word “marriage” that bothers them, it is gay people that bother them. They would prefer our families to be completely isolated from society — completely separate. They do not want to share ANYTHING with us. In Wisconsin the fundamentalists immediately filed suit against the state, claiming domestic partnerships are “close enough to marriage” to violate the constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Ultimately the court will decide whether domestic partnerships are marriage or not. The court will determine if the thousands of families that register prior to the decision will get to keep their domestic partnerships or whether they will be invalidated. If they lose at court, the fundamentalists will likely go back to the voters to change the amendment to prevent domestic partnerships. They won’t rest until all references to us in the law are gone, until we can’t visit our partners in the hospital, until we can’t leave our property to the people we choose, until we are illegal just for being who we are so they can lock us up.

      Full piece here. http://tinyurl.com/nzv78m

  • Drewski Said: August 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
    • Congratulations to Janice and Crystal, and congratulations to Wisconsin for being the first Midwestern state to begin to emerge from a pretty dark time. For those who don’t know or haven’t noticed, almost every Great Lakes state was taken over by the right wing of the GOP, leaving us with some amazingly antigay laws. Ohio and Michigan are two of the worst, though you wouldn’t know it to be in Ann Arbor, Cleveland or Columbus. Thank you Gov. Doyle and Wisconsin Dems for taking the first step in our region’s recovery from legislated discrimination.

  • Twisted Pride Said: August 4th, 2009 at 11:50 am
    • A step in the right direction :) .
      Make sure you read the “rights and responsibilities” section of the plan/bill. We have some crazy “small print” here in California, as I point out in my blog. http://twistedpride.blogspot.com

  • Facebook User Said: August 4th, 2009 at 9:31 am
    • Oh, yeah to Janice and Crystal…and many many others.

      FYI: See this piece on deciding whether or not to register as a ‘couple/family’ on the 2010 census.

      http://tinyurl.com/m3sop7

 
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