Some congressional Democrats are putting pressure on Michigan to recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend.
Thursday, they asked US Attorney General Eric Holder to grant federal recognition of the marriages. The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta reports.
Federal recognition would allow the couples to file joint income tax returns and share Social Security benefits. More than 300 couples were married in the window between a judge’s decision to strike down Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban and an appeals court order that put a stop to more weddings.
Congressman Dan Kildee says it’s time the question was just settled.
“The federal court has made it clear that under the US Constitution that this right exists and I think it’s time for us to set aside these appeals and just stand on the side of equality and move ahead as a state and as a nation,” he says.
Governor Rick Snyder says the state cannot recognize the marriages while the case is being appealed.