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Tag: Michigan same sex marriage

  • Same-Sex Marriages In Michigan Halted By Court

    Michigan Judge Bernard Friedman ruled on Friday that the state ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, sparking a flurry of same-sex marriages over the weekend.

    That came to a halt after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati issued a stay on Saturday. The court’s intention was to give itself plenty of time to weigh the state’s case against Friedman’s decision.

    Whether this pause is temporary is anyone’s guess, but the federal appeals court expects that it will make a ruling on Wednesday.

    It’s possible the gay unions will stand or they may be retroactively banned.

    Should the appeals court uphold the decision of Friedman, Michigan will join 17 states and the District of Colombia in the recognition of same-sex unions.

    Some surprising locations to feature the striking down of gay marriage bans include Texas and Utah, areas of the country that are known for their rather socially conservative populations.

    These are a couple of the states where federal courts have issued stays that have halted gay marriages. The appeals courts will keep the marriages on hold until a ruling is finally made for or against the unions.

    It’s very possible that a series of state decisions could be made over the next few months or years that would bring legalized gay marriages to half the United States.

    This number would be a far cry from the limited availability of recognized same-sex unions about a decade ago.

    Some are still wondering whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court will take the initiative at some point to declare state-issued bans on gay marriage constitutional or unconstitutional once and for all.

    After Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion, it’s reasonable to consider gay marriage the most controversial topic in all of the United States. One major reason why the Supreme Court continues to avoid directly dealing with the issue.

    As for whether or not gay marriage bans will be lifted across the country, the decision will ultimately depend on the evolving views of the constituents of each state.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Michigan: Same Sex Marriages In Limbo

    During a pending appeal to ban legalization of same sex marriages in Michigan, a stay was granted, causing more than 100 same-sex couples to get married on Saturday. There is still the possibility that they could have their marriages fall into legal limbo, however, if the state refuses to recognize their marriage, according to an expert on federal law and the courts.

    Several clerks and dozens of gay couples wasted little time acting on Judge Friedman’s ruling. County clerk offices are usually closed on weekends, but at least four of them were open on Saturday, including Ingham County, home to the state capital, Lansing.

    The stay was issued by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, claiming it needed more time to consider the appeal issued by Michigan’s attorney general wanting an annulment of the marriage ban by Judge Friedman, who found the ban unconstitutional.

    Of those married, Jonnie Terry, 50, and Elizabeth Patten, 52, who have been together for 28 years, were the first to receive their marriage license in Ann Arbor on Saturday. At 9:11 am. From outside the office, hundreds of people cheered loudly in honor of the couple.

    “It’s not how I envisioned my wedding, but we’re grateful,” Terry said.

    The couple, along with several family members, made their way down to a stuffy basement room where Judge Judith Ellen Levy of the Federal District Court for Eastern Michigan, officiated at the couple’s wedding.

    After they exchanged vows and rings, Judge Levy said, at 9:26 am, “I now pronounce you legally married,” and the room erupted in cheers.

    “It feels just unbelievable,” Patten said. “We’ve been waiting for this for a lifetime.”

    Witnessing same-sex marriages in Michigan will be “overwhelming and surreal and a bit of a tentative, bittersweet victory,” Emily Dievendorf, the executive director of Equality Michigan, said on Friday night. “We know that our attorney general does not support us and a lot of our elected leadership does not support us.”

    In 2004, Michigan voters voted against same-sex marriage by 59 percent. The measure said “the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.”

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