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Famed LGBT Advocate To Argue For Michigan In SCOTUS Marriage Case

centralmaine.com

The legal team fighting Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban has settled on a well-known litigator for LGBT rights to argue the case before the US Supreme Court.

We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta.

Mary Bonauto can lay claim to some of the earliest victories in the fight for marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. She helped win recognition in 1999 of civil unions in Vermont. In 2004, she helped win marriage rights for same-sex couples in Massachusetts. She will be the only gay or lesbian attorney arguing for LGBT marriage rights in any of the four cases before the court. She will argue that refusing to recognize same-sex marriages violates equal protection rights.

Arguing for the state will be former Michigan Solicitor General John Bursch, who successfully defended Michigan’s affirmative action ban before the court in 2014.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
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