Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin on Thursday introduced a bill to repeal the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, just ten days after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to the same effect, the Huffington Post reported.
“A growing majority of Wisconsinites believe the ban on marriage equality does not reflect their belief in how the state should recognize our families,” the bill’s lead sponsor, openly gay state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D), said in a statement. “We believe that it is time to give the people of our state the opportunity to remove unwanted constitutional barriers to marriage equality.”
In order to repeal the ban approved by Wisconsin voters in 2006, the bill would need to pass the legislature in two consecutive sessions before being placed on a ballot for referendum, according to the Huffington Post.
This is the first push by the Wisconsin legislature to repeal the ban, a Carpenter spokesperson told the Post.
The effort to legalize same-sex marriage in the state comes after rulings by multiple judges across the country in favor of same-sex marriage, following in the footsteps of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act last summer.
