Michigan's Freeze on Same-Sex Marriage Becomes Indefinite
The temporary stay issued after a federal judge struck down Michigan's law banning same-sex marriage has been extended until the state completes the appeals process.
That process could take some time. While Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette told the Grand Rapids Press that he hoped the case would be resolved "as quickly as possible," he has said that he will pursue the appeal all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Some state attorney generals have declined to pursue a defense of same-sex marriage bans. Others have fought against those bans.
But Schuette is in the middle of a re-election campaign and is making his fight against same-sex marriage part of his platform, even writing an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press about it today:
Moreover, Michigan's voters had a rational basis for their vote: Marriage has been understood to be between one man and one woman by virtually all civilizations throughout the centuries. The notion that marriage would be anything else has only emerged in the last few decades. It is not irrational for voters to support the belief that a mom and a dad are not interchangeable.
Also:
But I also know that there is a difference between a buffet and the state’s constitution. This fundamental document is not a cafeteria in which you can pick and choose which measures are enforced and defended.
That is why I am defending Detroit's cops' and firefighters' rights to their pensions, because the Michigan Constitution says pensions shall not be 'diminished or impaired.'
That is why I went to the United States Supreme Court to defend equal treatment in admissions to our state’s outstanding colleges and universities. Because it is fundamentally wrong to treat people differently based on the color of skin, gender, race or ethnicity.
Yes, he did somehow manage to be against same-sex marriage but for "equal treatment" in the very same letter. Treating someone differently based on the color of skin, gender, race or ethnicity is fundamentally wrong. Treating someone differently on the basis of sexual orientation is rational. Also, something about public safety officials shoehorned in to try to get more votes.
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In the meantime, same-sex couples cannot get married in the state, and the 300 or so who managed to get in the seven-hour window before the ruling was stayed still don't know whether or not their marriages will actually be recognized by the state. They will, at least, be entitled to federal marriage benefits.
There was hope that Gov. Rick Snyder would make a decision whether or not the state would recognize those marriages by now, but he has so far declined to do so. His spokeswoman said he "doesn't want to get distracted by issues that could divert his attention from jobs and the economy."
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/03/michigans-freeze-on-same-sex-marriage-becomes-indefinite/359596/
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