US: Human rights group sues Michigan over refusal to recognise same-sex marriages

A human rights legal group has filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan over its refusal to recognise 300+ same-sex couples married in the state.

The reinstatement and extension of a temporary suspension of a ruling to strike-down Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban last month left more than three hundred couples, who all married, not knowing where they stood legally.

Since, the state’s Governor Rick Snyder, has said the marriages were “legal and valid”, but that the state would not recognise them.

The US Attorney general Eric Holder has, however, announced the marriages will be recognised by the federal Government.

Now the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the state, filed the lawsuit against the state on behalf of eight couples.

It argues that the same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional as it denies same-sex couples equal protection under the law which are offered to opposite-sex couples.

The state argues that a 2004 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

• Oct 11

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