The Wisconsin Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the state's law granting domestic-partnership protections to same-sex couples, saying registries do not conflict with the state's ban on gay marriage and civil unions, according to JSOnline.com .
Opponents of the registries sued in an attempt to stop the state from extending benefits to same-sex couples; however, the Madison-based District 4 Court of Appeals sided with a Dane County judge and found the registries do not violate the state constitution.
"Committed same-sex couples in Wisconsin only want the peace of mind of being able to protect and provide for each other like any other married couple," said John Knight, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, in a statement. "Because they are denied the freedom to marry, these couples just wanted to hold on to the limited protections afforded to them by the domestic partnership law. To strip them of these would have been cruel and unjust."
