Judge Says She Did Not Order Wisconsin Counties To Issue Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples

A federal judge on Monday refused to stay her ruling striking down Wisconsin's gay marriage ban, but added that she did not order the state to begin issuing licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

Hundreds of gay couples married over the weekend in Milwaukee and Madison after U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb on Friday 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.)

Eleven more counties followed suit on Monday.

The state responded by filing an emergency motion to stay the ruling. Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen also turned to the 7^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, filing an appeal to the ruling and asking it for a stay.

According to The Chippewa Herald, Crabb said she found the amendment to be unconstitutional but did not prohibit its enforcement. Crabb had given the ACLU, which is representing the 8 plaintiff couples in their challenge, until June 16 to tell her what parts of the law it wants her to block.

“I never said anything” about issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, Crabb said. “That hasn't been decided,” she added.