Judge Asked to Force Michigan to Recognize Legal Same-Sex Marriages

An activist carries a sign outside the federal courthouse in Detroit, where a judge heard arguments on an injunction to force the state to recognize about 300 legal same-sex marriages performed last spring. (Screenshot: WXYZ, Channel 7, video)

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A federal court judge says he’ll rule “soon” on whether to grant an injunction forcing the state to recognize about 300 marriages performed during the not quite 24 hours last spring that same-sex marriage was legal in Michigan.

The case before U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith was brought by eight couples, who said they’re being harmed by state decision not to recognize the marriages after a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stay of the historic ruling striking down Michigan’s voter-backed ban on same-sex marriage, WXYZ, Channel 7, reports.

“Our case is about the right to stay married and not about the right to get married.”– ACLU Attorney Julian Mortenson

A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit heard arguments on six cases in four states, including U.S. District Robert Friedeman’s ruling declaring the Michigan law a violation of constitutional due-process rights. The court is also hearing cases from Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

A lawyer with the Michigan Attorney General’s office argued to Goldsmith that it will be less messy and “confusion” can be avoided if waits for higher courts to rule.

But he plaintiffs argue they’ve waited long enough to have their marriages, which the state acknowledges are legal, recognized so they can enjoy the same privileges of other married couples, including those relating to health insurance, pensions and job benefits.

Julian Mortenson, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said the issues are different than those raised in the DeBoer ruling appeal before the 6th Circuit, The Detroit News reports.

“Our case is about the right to stay married and not about the right to get married,” Mortenson said Thursday. “We’re asking the state to start recognizing the marriages tomorrow.”

It’s unclear exactly what Goldsmith meant when he said he would rule soon.

Related:

• 6th Circuit’s Marathon Gay Marriage Hearing Signals Historic Shift