MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Today, the Attorney General of Wisconsin appealed the decisions in the marriage equality case Wolf v. Walker to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Last week, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s ruling that Wisconsin’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law on behalf of eight couples seeking the freedom to marry in Wisconsin or to have their out-of-state marriages recognized.

“Now that there are petitions before the Court in five cases, it’s crystal clear that the Court needs to take up the freedom to marry issue again.   Same-sex couples from every corner of the country are affected, and the high court has the opportunity to end the harm caused by these discriminatory and unconstitutional marriage bans,” said James Esseks, Director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project. “Since last June, dozens of courts around the country have ruled in favor of equality for loving and committed same-sex couples. With these filings, we hope it’s only a matter of time before all Americans in all fifty states have the freedom to marry.”

Virginia Wolf, the named plaintiff in the case, said, “Carol and I are so excited that the case is going to the highest court in the land! We are also very happy to know that the state of Wisconsin may be part of this ultimate, national decision on marriage equality, and hope it helps to bring about a day very soon when families like ours are recognized regardless of what state we are in — a day when it is no longer the case that, when we visit Minneapolis with our grandkids, we’re considered married but when we go home to Eau Claire, we are legally little more than roommates.”

The ACLU has been working for the rights of LGBT people since 1936, when it brought its first gay rights case.  The ACLU filed the first freedom-to-marry lawsuit for same-sex couples in 1970, represented Edie Windsor in her successful challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act in June 2013, and has filed thirteen federal marriage lawsuits on behalf of same-sex couples since then.

More information about this case can be found at: www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/wolf-and-schumacher-v-walker

The ACLU of Wisconsin is a non-profit, non-partisan, private organization whose 7,000 members support its efforts to defend the civil rights and liberties of all Wisconsin residents. For more on the ACLU of Wisconsin, visit our website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @ACLUofWisconsin and@ACLUMadison.