Leader Staff
There were no same-sex couples at the Shawano County Courthouse at the start of business Monday seeking marriage licenses, and Shawano County Clerk Rosemary Rueckert said she would need a new form from the state before she could legally issue the licenses.
A federal judge ruled Friday that Wisconsin’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen was expected to petition a federal appeals court Monday to stop county clerks from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Rueckert said Shawano County forms for marriage licenses say “bride” and “groom” and that she cannot legally alter the document. She said she has been in contact with the Wisconsin Department of Vital Records and was told a new form with gender-neutral terms was being drafted, although she had no timetable on when she would receive it.
Rueckert was not expecting a rush similar to Dane and Milwaukee counties, where dozens of couples were married Friday and Saturday, pointing out that she has only processed seven applications for same-sex domestic partnerships since that law took effect on Aug. 3, 2009.