Wisconsin Lawmakers Pass New Same-Sex Marriage Protections

In the news: Protecting marriage rights in Wisconsin

 

Last week, lawmakers in Wisconsin passed legislation that helps protect marriage rights of same-sex couples in their state. The approved amendments – nestled inside a nearly 2,000-page budget bill – replace gendered language in the state’s marriage laws and create a new subsection that explicitly protects same sex couples’ right to marry. 

 

Although this massive bill was mostly focused on state spending – $111 billion for a two-year state budget to be exact – it also contained updates to the state’s marriage laws and more. It was signed into law by Governor Evers right before the July 4th holiday weekend. 

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Most of the changes involve replacing references to marriage with gender-neutral terminology, such as replacing ‘husband and wife’ with ‘married couple’ or ‘spouse.’ Legislators wrote that this was done “with the intent of harmonizing the Wisconsin Statutes with the holding of the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges.” (from the text of Senate Bill 45)

 

But the most notable change, perhaps, was the creation of a new subsection that will explicitly protect the right for same sex couples to get married. The addition reads: 

 

• “(3) Marriage may be contracted between persons of the same sex or different sexes.”

(New subsection added to § 765.02 Marriageable Age; Who May Contract.)

 

• See all Wisconsin Marriage Laws here

 

Although same-sex marriage has been legal in Wisconsin since 2014, and across the US since 2015, when SCOTUS decided in favor of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, many states never got around to removing outdated same-sex marriage bans from their state laws and constitutions. 

 

These unenforceable marriage bans are sometimes called ‘zombie laws,’ because they could "come back from the dead" if Obergefell’s federal marriage protections are ever overturned. In this case, any same-sex marriage ban that’s still written into state laws could become effective again.

 

To avoid this devastating outcome, many states – including Wisconsin – are now taking steps to repeal any remaining defunct statutory and constitutional bans. Colorado repealed a statutory ban on same sex marriage this year, for example, and Virginia took a solid step toward reversing its state’s constitutional ban. 

 

This is good news and deserves to be celebrated!

 

Read the full text of WI SB45: State finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 2025 legislature. 

 

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Next steps to protect marriage equality in Wisconsin

 

This isn’t the first step Wisconsin lawmakers have had to take to protect their LGBTQ+ residents – and it likely won’t be the last. 

 

In 2014, the ACLU filed a lawsuit called Wolf v. Walker to challenge the state’s constitutional ban (which had passed in 2006, via Wisconsin Examiner). A federal judge agreed with the ACLU that the ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause, and the decision was later upheld by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Because the case was decided on different legal grounds than Obergefell, before the SCOTUS case was even decided, it would likely hold up even if Obergefell was overturned.  (That's good news.)

 

Still, marriage equality advocates emphasize that the defunct ban should be repealed completely to help protect the marriage rights of all couples. To accomplish this, legislators are considering Wisconsin Senate Joint Resolution 68 this year.

 

• Read more of AMM's coverage of WI SJR68 here: Wisconsin Lawmakers Move to Protect Same-Sex Marriage

 

Let's keep moving to protect marriage equality! 

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More Wisconsin Wedding Ideas & Inspiration

 

• How to Get Married in Wisconsin - Planning a wedding in The Badger State
   
• How to Officiate a Wedding For the First Time
   

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