Michigan governor puts marriages on hold

Michigan governor puts marriages on hold

Detroit- Michigan state agencies won’t immediately recognize hundreds of same-sex marriages that were performed in the hours before an appeals court put on hold a judge’s ruling that tossed out a state ban on same-sex marriage, the governor’s office said March 23.

About 300 couples wed March 22 in four Michigan counties before a federal appeals court placed a stay on a Detroit federal judge’s decision on March 21 that overturned the state’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

“We are extremely sensitive to feelings on this issue and are hoping for a swift resolution for all involved,” said Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder.

The decision blocks Michigan’s county clerks from issuing new same-sex marriage licenses until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules whether to extend the stay.

Asked if that would prevent, for example, a newlywed gay couple from applying for adoption of children in the interim, Wurfel said that Snyder and his administration consider everything to be on hold for now.

“We are not saying that we aren’t or won’t recognize the marriages that happened on March 22, but that we’re awaiting further court or legal direction on this complex, unusual situation,” Wurfel said.

“Either way, this can’t be construed one way or another as not recognizing the validity of the same sex marriages.”

On Friday, March 21, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled that a 2004 voter-approved amendment to the Michigan Constitution that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the U.S. Constitution’s right of equal protection.

The next day, clerks in Ingham, Oakland, Muskegon and Washtenaw counties opened their doors and began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Michigan has 83 counties. But later that day, the 6th Circuit froze the decision, saying the time-out would “allow a more reasoned consideration” of the state’s request to stop same-sex marriages.

Michigan has spent about $40,000 so far on experts whose testimony at a trial over same-sex marriage was panned as a “fringe viewpoint” and “entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration” by the judge.

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