Same-Sex Couples Prepare For Federal Hearings In Marriage Ban Challenge

About half-dozen same-sex married couples from Wisconsin stopped in Milwaukee on Monday as part of a bus tour before they head to Chicago, where a federal appeals court will hold a hearing on Tuesday in the case challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

A panel of three judges from the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the state of Wisconsin’s appeal of U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb’s ruling last June that found the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele helped make sure dozens of same-sex couples could wed at the county courthouse Crabb temporarily lifted the ban. On Monday, he also gave $10,000 in financial backing to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been helping the couples.

U.S. attorney James Santelle also wished the couples “godspeed” on their trip south, and said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder backs their legal fight.

ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said that the fight in court on Tuesday will focus on the same-sex couples’ claim that the state’s same-sex marriage ban has no legitimate purpose.

“Not only is it devoid of a legitimate state purpose, but it harms people. It denies people freedom and equality that they should have,” said Ahmuty.

Wisconsin Department of Justice attorneys are preparing counterarguments. Gov. Scott Walker was asked on Monday how the state has been harmed by several hundred same-sex couples getting married in June.

“That’s not for us to judge one way or the other,” he said. “When the attorney general and I take the oath of office, part of that oath is to support the constitution of the state of Wisconsin.”

The ACLU said the rest of that oath is for Walker to support the U.S. Constitution, which they argue the ban violates. They say Walker is wasting taxpayer money trying to defend the marriage ban.