Wisconsin Governor Pushes To End Hospital Visitation For Gay Couples

If you weren’t convinced Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is heinous by that time he tried to strip teachers, firefighters, social workers, and other government employees of their collective bargaining rights, this should do it: Now he’s fighting to make it so gay people can’t visit their partners in the hospital.

Walker wants the state to stop defending its domestic partner registry on the grounds that it isn’t constitutional. Some background from the Associated Press:

Members of the conservative group Wisconsin Family Action filed a lawsuit last summer arguing the registry violates the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. Former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat who proposed the registry as a means of granting same-sex couples more legal rights, chose to defend the measure and had filed a motion asking Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser for summary judgment upholding it. Walker, a Republican, inherited the case from Doyle when he took office in January.

Last week Walker filed legal documents saying the registry shouldn’t be defended because it mimics marriage, and is thus unconstitutional. The list, which included about 1,330 couples at the end of 2009, allows same-sex couples the right to visit each other in hospitals, make end-of-life decisions, and inherit each other’s property — just like married couples! (Minus a slew of other rights.)

Thankfully, the gay rights group Fair Wisconsin has stepped in and pledged to defend the registry, even if the state won’t. Still, Walker has definitely sent a message. He’s such a passionate conservative that he’ll make gay people suffer even more during the most horrible time in their lives, because that’s what limited government is really all about.

Wis. Gov. Walker Tells Judge He Wants To Stop Defending Domestic Partner Registry Law In Court [AP]