A federal judge says the state must recognize the marriages of 300 gay and lesbian couples. They were married last year during a one-day window in Michigan when it was legal.
This preliminary ruling was handed down as the justices of the US Supreme Court could be about to decide whether to hear a challenge to same-sex marriage bans in Michigan and three other states.
This is a separate issue – not whether the couples can get married, but whether the state must recognize the marriages because they were performed while it was legal.
“In these circumstances, what the state has joined together, it may not put asunder,” wrote US District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith in his ruling that orders the state to recognize the marriages. He said the gay and lesbian couples were denied a “fundamental right.”
The ruling takes effect in 21 days. Attorney General Bill Schuette says his office is reviewing the order before deciding whether to appeal it.
“We are reviewing Judge Goldsmith’s decision but as I have said repeatedly, the sooner the United States Supreme Court makes a decision on this issue the better it will be for Michigan and America,” he said in a written statement.
The US Supreme Court has a case conference on Friday, and the Michigan marriage case is on the discussion list. April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse are challenging a US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that upheld same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
The appeals court reversed Judge Bernard Friedman’s ruling that Michigan’s marriage ban violates equal protection rights. The day after that ruling – and before it was put on hold by the appeals court – roughly 300 same-sex couples were married in four counties.
Glenna DeJonge and Marsha Caspar were the same-sex couple in Michigan to be legally married on March 21st. They are also among the plaintiffs who sued to get their marriage recognized.
DeJonge cried when she heard the news.
“We had kind of given up hope that anything was going to happen here soon, especially with the things up in the air about the Supreme Court,” she said. “I’m ecstatic. This is great news, not just for us but for the 300 couples that were married that day.”
Goldsmith’s decision does not apply to unions performed in states that permit same-sex marriage. He denied a request the combine this case with others that seek recognition of out-of-state gay and lesbian marriages.
