Michigan’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is now on trial before a federal judge.
The trial is expected to take about two weeks. The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta attended the opening arguments in Detroit.
There were demonstrators supporting and opposed to the gay marriage ban in front of the courthouse as April DeBoer and Jayne Rouse showed up with their attorneys. DeBoer says they initiated the lawsuit so she and her partner could adopt the children they’re already raising together.
“Nothing says family like the marriage license that says we are legally a family,” she says. “That’s what we’re hoping for and we thing we’re going to get.”
DeBoer’s attorneys said in the opening arguments that she wants to settle once and for all that research shows gay couples are just as good parents as male-female couples, and debunk studies that say otherwise. The state says there’s still not enough research to know for sure, and this is a decision that should be left to voters.