ACLU Sues To Force Michigan To Recognize 300 Legally-Married Same-Sex Couples

The ACLU and the ACLU of Michigan today filed a lawsuit to force Republican Governor Rick Snyder and the state of Michigan to recognize the marriages of over 300 same-sex couples who legally married in March after a federal judge ruled that state’s marriage ban unconstitutional. Governor Snyder, while acknowledging those marriages were and are legal, declared Michigan would not recognize them after a stay was placed on federal judge Bernard Friedman‘s ruling.

WATCH: Here’s The Moment Two Michigan Moms Learn Their Case Just Won Them The Right To Marry

Governor Snyder announced late last month that rights for those 322 marriages, as far the state is concerned, were “suspended.” The federal government has announced that it does recognize these marriages as legal and entitled to all the benefits and protections the federal government provides.

“Because of Governor Snyder’s refusal to recognize the marriages of the 300 couples, these families are precluded from enjoying the many benefits of marriage in Michigan, including providing health insurance to spouses, jointly adopting children, and ensuring the financial stability of their families,” the ACLU stated.

The lawsuit argues that once same-sex couples are legally married in Michigan, they gain protections that cannot be taken away retroactively. Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution compels state officials to recognize those protections regardless of the ultimate outcome of the appeal of Judge Friedman’s ruling.

The ACLU’s case, Casper V. Snyder (PDF), includes “eight same-sex couples who were legally married in Michigan on March 22, 2014, but are now being denied, along with their families, the dignity, recognition, privileges, and benefits that all legally married couples and their families deserve and are entitled to under the law.”

The Michigan case that won last month’s ruling, Deboer v. Snyder, centers on two nurses who are together raising three special needs children. Both are prohibited from jointly adopting all three children, because of Michigan laws an its ban on same-sex marriage. Currently, one mother has adopted one of the three children, and the other two of the three children. The couple is not among the 322 who married last month after the judge’s ruling.

The ACLU has published a page detailing the couples, their families, and the challenges Gov. Snyder’s decision has imposed.

 

Image: Kelly Callison and Anne Callison, via the ACLU of Michigan