Julaine Appling, head of Wisconsin
Family Action (WFA), has described a ruling striking down Wisconsin's
ban on gay marriage as an “attempt to destroy” marriage.
Gay and lesbian couples in two counties
began marrying on Friday after a federal judge declared invalid
Wisconsin's 2006 voter-approved constitutional amendment prohibiting
state officials from recognizing any union other than a heterosexual
marriage.
(Related: Gay
couples begin marrying in two Wisconsin counties.)
WFA supported passage of the marriage
amendment as the Family Research Institute. Four WFA plaintiffs sued
the state over a domestic partnership registry for gay couples which
offers few benefits. The suit, currently before the Wisconsin
Supreme Court, claims plaintiffs have been harmed because their tax
revenues are being used to fund the registry.
In a blog post, Appling, who has
previously argued that the domestic partner registry violates the
marriage amendment because it “mimics marriage,” said in a blog
post that her group was “disappointed but not surprised” by
Friday's ruling.
“Rather than going through the
stringent legislative process required to place a proposed
constitutional amendment on the ballot for a vote, radical
homosexuals have used the courts to nullify the vote of a majority of
Wisconsin citizens as well as those in 26 other states,” Appling
said. “Trying to destroy an institution that has served and
prospered societies for thousands of years is the height of arrogance
and a gross pandering to a well organized, well funded, very small
minority who, rather than take this important issue to the people of
Wisconsin, did an end run around the will of the people.”