Same-sex couples registry starts Monday

Droves of same-sex couples will sign up for Wisconsin's domestic partnership registry Monday in what they are calling a historic step toward equality in the nation's heartland.

Registering will give partners dozens of the same legal protections as spouses, including hospital visitation, inheritance, and medical leave rights. County clerks are preparing for lines of same-sex couples who waited years for the state to recognize their relationships.

"We've done a lot of stuff to create our relationship in fact. It's really good to be able to cement that with some law," said Madison lawyer Tamara Packard, who will register with her partner and is chilling a bottle of champagne for the two to enjoy afterward.

The day will be historic in more ways than one. Wisconsin is the first Midwestern state to enact protections for same-sex couples through legislation. Gov. Jim Doyle proposed the plan, and the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved it in the state budget.

"I expect Wisconsin to provide an example to states around us and hopefully this will help people in Minnesota, Illinois and elsewhere," said Kyle Richmond, a Dane County supervisor who is gay.

Wisconsin is also the first state to grant domestic partnerships despite having a constitutional ban on gay marriage and any "substantially similar" relationships.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said the law he helped write provides a model for other states who have similar bans but want to offer protections to gay couples. He plans to register with his longtime partner soon.

"It's really significant there was little resistance in the Legislature," he said. "The public understands the need for these protections."

But there has been some controversy. A group of social conservatives has asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to invalidate the law, saying it conflicts with the constitutional ban.

The high court hasn't said whether it will take the case and state officials are confident it will be upheld since the partnerships stop short of full marriage rights.

Nonetheless, the legal uncertainty coupled with excitement around the law is expected to create a rush of early applicants.

"We plan on being very busy," said Milwaukee County Clerk Joseph J. Czarnezki. "We ask if there is a line they just be patient. This is as new to us as it is to them."

Dane County Clerk Robert Ohlsen is borrowing county employees from other departments to help. Volunteers from Fair Wisconsin, the state's largest gay rights group, will also be on hand to help couples register and celebrate the first gay rights law passed in Wisconsin since 1982.

Researchers have estimated between 1,400 and 5,100 same-sex couples will register in the first year, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures showing 14,000 same-sex couples in Wisconsin.

Few will technically join the registry this week. Couples must wait five days before receiving a copy of the certificate unless they pay an extra fee. Then, they must sign it in front of a notary and file it with the register of deeds. The document will be forwarded to the state's vital records office, which will maintain the statewide database.

The document will make it easier for same-sex couples to complete legal transactions like transferring property and executing wills and can be used to obtain health insurance through employers that extend coverage to partners. The state budget also grants such benefits to state employees for the first time.

Partners will be guaranteed the right to visit each other in hospitals and care facilities, make end-of-life-decisons, inherit each other's property, and take off work under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for each other.

Clerks expect some early hiccups. Couples must provide certified copies of their birth certificates, which can only be issued by states or counties where one was born. They must also show up with proof they've lived in the county for 30 days. State officials said that partners do not need their Social Security cards, only their numbers. But Czarnezki said people should bring the cards.

Milwaukee County and Dane County also require couples to pay fees in cash. ($115 in Dane, $100 in Milwaukee, the same as marriage licenses).

Maria Parker, 37, of Monona, said it's comforting to know that if she becomes critically injured her partner will be allowed to visit and make decisions. In the past, she has worried that family members who haven't accepted her relationship would shut her partner out in a crisis.

Packard, a go-to attorney for the gay and lesbian community, said another benefit is that partners will not have to testify against each other in court. That means she will no longer have to exclude partners from sensitive conversations with her clients.

"All these changes are helpful in keeping the family in tact and protecting and preserving plans and investments a couple have made together. It's a wonderful thing," she said. "It's a tough world and we need all the help we can get to keep it together when crisis hits."