MADISON—A Wisconsin judge ruled Nov. 28 that a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on gay and lesbian marriages can go forward.

Dane County Judge Rick Niess said a lawsuit by William McConkey, supported by Fair Wisconsin, should be heard over McConkey’s claim that the 2006 ballot initiative that led to the ban violated Wisconsin law by putting two distinct questions in one initiative. The initiative asked voters to forbid gay and lesbian couples from marrying and also banned the state from “providing for a legal relationship identical to or substantially similar to that of marriage” for gay and lesbian couples.

“Judge Niess was exactly right. All Wisconsin voters have a right to a procedurally legitimate referendum on a proposal to amend Wisconsin’s Constitution, and all voters are harmed by having a constitutionally defective question placed before them,” said Michele Perreault, attorney and vice president of Fair Wisconsin.