Saying "I do:" Same-sex marriages continue as ruling works its way through courts



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The decision to overturn Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage has sent couples to the Milwaukee County Courthouse since Friday. Courthouse employees have been busy -- with the Clerk of Courts Office processing more than 160 marriage licenses for same-sex couples since Friday.

“I’m just so happy. It’s just so awesome to be able to do this. We’ve been together for quite awhile now, so it’s just awesome to be able to get married,” said Timothy D. Winslow.

“I keep trying not to think about it because I keep waiting for them to say 'no, it can’t happen,'” Natalie Price said.

Even though the decision to lift the ban on same sex marriages in Wisconsin came down on Friday, the fear it could only be temporary caused many couples to rush to the Courthouse as soon as possible.

“This morning we both got up and ran to the TV  to see if something changed and when we didn’t hear anything we thought let's go just in case,” said Theresa Gallun.

“We wanted to make sure we got it done. Especially they've been trying to fight it, and put the ban down again and that would really suck if that happened,” said Timothy D. Winslow.

For Timothy Winslow and Jeremy Shine, it's not just that they will be finally married. It's also where they get to do it -- in their home state.

“We had thought about going out of the state and just getting married but we decided to wait until it came here and it finally came here,” said Winslow.

“It’s about a sense of community. When your state allows it, it's a lot different than another state, because it's your community allowing it,” said Shine. “I live in the city of Milwaukee. I'm a resident of Milwaukee. I wanted to get married in the city of Milwaukee.

Their families are happy about it too.

“It's wonderful. I thought it would never happen here -- where we could all be here, the family, and celebrate with them,” said Pamela Shine, whose son is marrying his partner of more than 10 years.

“It’s something I didn't think I was going to get. It's just wonderful,” said Price.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele extended hours at the Milwaukee County Courthouse this weekend so same-sex couples could get married.

He has said he will pay the overtime costs out of his own pocket.

The numbers are still being crunched, but Abele says he's just honored to take part in helping the couples marry.

"We`ll see when everything is tallied up for the weekend. The nice thing though, is an awful lot of people were giving their time. When I was talking about all these judges down here, they were calling me asking if they can volunteer, and that`s Democrats, Republicans, a lot of people. This was not a political issue," Abele said.

On Monday, federal Judge Barbara Crabb delayed acting on the state attorney general's request for her to halt ceremonies.

Judge Crabb instead asked the ACLU to tell her exactly what it wanted her to block in the gay marriage law.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago could now issue a stay in the case.

Meanwhile, Judge Crabb said Monday she will take up the issue on June 19th.