Demonstrators sit in front of the Portage County Courthouse Friday, in Stevens Point, Wis., where about 50 people gathered to protest the county’s refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Credit: The Stevens Point Journal

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Madison — Ending a week of uncertainty, a federal judge Friday ordered Wisconsin officials to stop enforcing the state's gay marriage ban but then immediately put that order on hold while the historic case winds through months of appeals.

The 14-page order from U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb in Madison halted the same-sex weddings taking place in most of the state and set up an appeal by the state to the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The judge gave no indication whether the hundreds of same-sex marriages already performed will hold up in court.

She said that if left to her own judgment, she would not have stayed her order and would have allowed same-sex marriages to go forward. But she said she felt compelled to halt them because of how the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts have acted in similar cases.

"After seeing the expressions of joy on the faces of so many newly wedded couples featured in media reports, I find it difficult to impose a stay on the event that is responsible for eliciting that emotion, even if the stay is only temporary," Crabb wrote. "Same-sex couples have waited many years to receive equal treatment under the law, so it is understandable that they do not want to wait any longer. However, a federal district court is required to follow the guidance provided by the Supreme Court."

Last week, Crabb declared the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, but didn't explicitly order local or state officials to stop enforcing it and recognize same-sex unions. Confusion ensued, with most county clerks in the state issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples but some clerks waiting for more guidance.

In her latest ruling, Crabb ordered the county clerks in Dane, Milwaukee and Racine counties — those who were sued in the case — to issue same-sex marriage licenses. She told Gov. Scott Walker to direct his administration to treat same-sex couples the same as other married couples.

That has implications for state income taxes, pensions, adoptions and a host of other rights and responsibilities. Crabb also told state Registrar Oskar Anderson to accept same-sex marriage documents just as he does those of other couples.

Crabb then suspended her order, which in turn halted same-sex marriages until higher courts rule on the issue.

One of the plaintiffs in the case praised Crabb's rulings over the past week in a news release released Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing all the same-sex couples in the case.

"After nearly four decades together, Garth (Wangemann) and I had kind of lost hope that we'd ever be able to get married — it's always seemed like such a long shot," said the statement from Roy Badger. "But since Judge Crabb's decision, and seeing gay and lesbian couples getting married in Wisconsin, we have hope. We hope we can once and for all bring love and equality to the Badger State!"

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, who is defending the law, said in a statement he would appeal the decision soon but indicated he was pleased Crabb had issued a stay and cleared up any confusion over whether same-sex couples could get married, pending rulings from higher courts.

"By staying this ruling, she has confirmed that Wisconsin's law regarding same-sex marriage remains in full force and effect," Van Hollen's statement said.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, a Democrat who was the first clerk to begin issuing the licenses last week, said he would now stop.

"I'm disappointed (Crabb) stayed her own ruling but I defer to her knowledge of the federal courts and I'm looking forward to the day when I can issue same-sex marriage licenses again," he said.

Left unclear is the status of hundreds of gay and lesbian couples who wed during the last week. As of Thursday at noon, 555 marriage licenses had been issued to same-sex couples by the 60 county clerks who have been doing so, according to a tally by The Associated Press. The state's other 12 counties declined to issue licenses over the past week.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said that based on another case, the recently wed couples in Wisconsin may end up being viewed as married by the federal government but not the state government. Same-sex couples living in Wisconsin who were married in a different state would be in a similar situation.

But Tobias noted the state of affairs for those couples is not clear and further litigation could ensue, as occurred in Utah.

"If the people who got married want to press it, I think they can press it," Tobias said. "They did in Utah and were successful," though that decision has been stayed during appeal.

Dale Carpenter, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Minnesota, said it was possible those couples in Wisconsin and Utah end up in the same situation, though the respective cases were not identical. More litigation over the dispute is "entirely possible," he said.

"I don't have any definitive answers for you because we don't have anything like this... There's a reasonable argument here both ways," Carpenter said.

The case hasn't come up short on controversy. Van Hollen, a Republican, said Thursday that same-sex couples who have wed in recent days are not married in the eyes of the law, and that county clerks issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples could be charged criminally.

County clerks can be jailed for up to nine months and fined up to $10,000 for issuing marriage licenses that aren't allowed, under state law. But in a Friday interview with WIBA-AM in Madison, Van Hollen downplayed his comments from the day before and suggested charges were unlikely.

"I can't imagine under which circumstances I would have prosecuted as a district attorney," said Van Hollen, who served as district attorney of Ashland and Bayfield counties before becoming attorney general.

In a hearing Friday, Crabb emphasized she had not told clerks in her ruling last week to start issuing licensing to couples.

"Those county clerks were essentially acting on their own when they decided to issue marriage licenses," she said. "I never told them not to, but I never told them they could do it."

Lawyers in Van Hollen's office had asked Crabb to immediately stay any order she may issue while the state pursues an appeal. They also had sought similar action from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Speaking before Crabb issued her decision, Walker said Friday the state would follow whatever she ordered.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay or lesbian person elected to the upper house of Congress, called on Walker and Van Hollen to stop "defending discrimination and ... prosecuting progress."

"Wisconsin is the 12th state to see a marriage ban struck down in federal court since the U.S. Supreme Court decision last June. Now Wisconsin can proudly say that discrimination doesn't just violate our values — it violates our Constitution," she said.

Julaine Appling, executive director of the conservative group Wisconsin Family Action, criticized Crabb's decision but said she was at least pleased to see it suspended while it's on appeal.

"Her lack of clarity has resulted in chaos and confusion and it's imperative she get that cleared up," Appling said.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which sparked a wave of lawsuits challenging state bans on gay marriage. So far, all those suits have gone against the bans, but no federal appeals court has yet ruled in this latest round of litigation.

But the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver heard arguments in a Utah case on April 10 and an Oklahoma case on April 17, and is expected to rule soon. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., heard arguments in a Virginia case on May 13 and should rule this summer.

That would open up the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court could rule on one or more gay marriage challenges in its next term beginning Oct. 1.

Journal Sentinel reporter Erin Richards in Waukesha contributed to this article.