MADISON (AP) — Wisconsin's Republican attorney general is conceding the fight to preserve the state's gay marriage ban is over.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals from five states, including Wisconsin, seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages. The order immediately ends delays on marriages in those states.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had filed Wisconsin's appeal in hopes of preserving a 2006 state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
His spokeswoman issued a statement Monday saying the Department of Justice made every attempt to defend the state constitution but acknowledged gay marriage is now legal.