Legal protections for same-sex couples begin Aug. 3

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Aug. 3 is when same-sex couples throughout Wisconsin can start signing up for legal protections granted in the new state budget.

In Madison, up to 2,400 couples are expected to join the new domestic partner registry in Dane County.

Courthouses throughout the state will begin taking applications similar to the way they do it for marriage licenses.

Once they’re granted, same-sex couples will get dozens of benefits that only married couples now have, including the ability to inherit a partner’s property, access each other’s medical records, and use family leave to care for sick or dying partners.

The state’s Legislative Council issued an opinion in May that the new registry does not go against the 2006 constitutional ban on gay marriage.

And the governor’s office says it does not expect a legal challenge.

But Julaine Appling of the Wisconsin Family Council still believes the registry is against the law.

She says Gov. Jim Doyle is just paying back the ban’s opponents for getting behind him in his 2006 re-election bid. Doyle said he only acted out of fairness.

Katie Belanger of Fair Wisconsin said the campaign over the 2006 amendment made more people see the issue that way and she said it helped get the registry passed in the Legislature.

Tags: same sex couples, wisconsin, registry