DETROIT - Michigan’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, a federal judge said Friday as he struck down a law that was widely embraced by voters a decade ago - the latest in a recent series of decisions overturning similar prohibitions across the country.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman released his 31-page ruling two weeks after a rare trial that mostly focused on the effect of samesex parenting on children.
He noted that supporters of same-sex marriage believe that the Michigan ban was at least partly the result of animosity toward homosexuals.
“Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their dailylives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage,” Friedman said. “Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law.”
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia issue licenses for same-sex marriage. Since December, bans on gay marriage have been overturned in Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, but appeals have put those cases on hold.
Since Friedman did not suspend his decision while Attorney General Bill Schuette pursues an appeal, clerks can start issuing licenses Monday unless a higher court intervenes.
“We’ll be ready to go first thing Monday morning. We open at 8 a.m.,” said Barb Byrum, the clerk in InghamCounty, home of the state capital.
Schuette said he would immediately ask a federal appeals court to freeze Friedman’s decision.
Two Detroit-area nurses, Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer, want to get married, but the original purpose of their 2012 lawsuit was to overturn Michigan’s ban on joint adoptions by same-sex couples.
They are raising three adopted children with special needs at their Hazel Park home. But they can’t jointly adopt each other’s children because joint adoption in the state is tied exclusively to marriage.
The state urged the judge to respect the results of a 2004 election in which 59 percent of voters approved a constitutional amendment that said marriage in Michigan can only be between a man and a woman. Conservative scholars also questioned the effect of same-sex parenting on children.
The judge wasn’t moved.
“State defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people,” Friedman said.
“No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples.”
Experts testifying for Rowse and DeBoer said there were no differences between the children of same-sex couples and children raised by a man and woman. And the University of Texas took theextraordinary step of disavowing the testimony of sociology professor Mark Regnerus, who was a witness for Michigan.
Dave Murray, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, said the state has an “obligation” to defend what voters chose in 2004.
But if a “court concludes the provision of the Michigan Constitution cannot be enforced, he’d respect those decisions and follow the rule of law,” Murray said.
Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 03/22/2014