Wisconsin Constitution
Article XIII - Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 13 - Marriage.

Universal Citation: WI Const art XIII § 13
[As created Nov. 2006] Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state. [2003 J.R. 29, 2005 J.R. 30, vote Nov. 2006]

Note: In Wolf v. Walker, Case No. 14-cv-64-bbc, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin declared that “art. XIII, § 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution violates plaintiffs' fundamental right to marry and their right to equal protection of laws under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Affirmed. 766 F.3d 648. U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 14-2526, issued September 4, 2014.

The two propositions contained in the amendment creating this section plainly relate to the subject of marriage. The general purpose of the marriage amendment is to preserve the legal status of marriage as between only one man and one woman. Both propositions in the marriage amendment relate to and are connected with this purpose. Therefore, the marriage amendment does not violate the separate amendment rule of Article XII, Section 1. McConkey v. Van Hollen, 2010 WI 57, 326 Wis. 2d 1; 783 N.W.2d 855, 08-1868.

Chapter 770, the domestic partnership law, is constitutional, based on the presumption of constitutionality, the plaintiffs' failure to meet the burden of proof, and the evidence reviewed. The plain language of the amendment prohibits only a status “identical or substantially similar to" marriage, and by implication it does not prohibit what is not identical or substantially similar thereto. There are important statutory distinctions in the way the state treats marriage and domestic partnerships and important differences in the lists of benefits and obligations that inhere in the two types of relationships. Appling v. Walker, 2014 WI 96, 358 Wis. 2d 132, 853 N.W.2d 888, 11-1572.

Same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all states. The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 2071, 191 L. Ed. 2d 953 (2015).

There is no lawful basis for a state to refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in another state on the ground of its same-sex character. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 2071, 191 L. Ed. 2d 953 (2015).

Same-Sex Divorce and Wisconsin Courts: Imperfect Harmony? Thorson. 92 MLR 617.

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