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Ruling On Michigan Same-Sex Marriage Ban Will Wait For SCOTUS Decisions

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A decision on whether Michigan’s gay marriage ban is constitutional will wait until this summer.

A federal judge in Detroit says he wants to see how the U-S Supreme Court rules on a pair of gay marriage cases before he makes his ruling.

The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta reports.

This started out as a case on adoption rights for same-sex couples. Jayne Rouse and April DeBoer are raising three children together. But under the law, they don’t share joint legal rights and responsibilities.   

An emotional April DeBoer says she’s disappointed there was no ruling after the hearing, but she remains hopeful:

“We will wait until June and see what the Supreme Court has to say and that we will finally get the rights to our children,”  she says.

The state attorney general argued that marriage is not a basic right, and so changing laws about marriage and adoption should be left to the Legislature or voters.

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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