Same-sex marriage in Michigan
On November 6, the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court's ruling and upheld Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court overturned the Sixth Circuit's ruling and legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the United States on June 26.
In June 2023, Representative Jason Morgan introduced legislation to the Michigan Legislature to amend all gendered marital references in state statutes and repeal the statutory ban on same-sex marriages.
[1] In 2004, voters approved a constitutional amendment, Michigan Proposal 04-2, that banned same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.
While marriage between individuals of the same sex is currently protected through a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has made it clear how precarious our rights truly are.
In August 2012, Judge Bernard A. Friedman invited the couple to amend their suit to challenge the state's ban on same-sex marriage, "the underlying issue".
[8] On March 7, 2013, Friedman announced that he would delay ruling pending the outcome of two same-sex marriage cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v.
The court held that the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee same-sex couples the right to marry.
The Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate, Arlan Meekhof, said he was "disappointed" and "concerned by the Court's decision to disregard states' rights in favor of the federal government".
Michigan's Catholic bishops released a statement that the ruling would "have a significant ripple effect upon the first amendment right to religious liberty".
[21] The state had asked the district court to suspend proceedings pending final resolution of DeBoer or to find those marriages invalid.
His statement was widely criticized; "Please explain how dissolving my marriage, or that of the hundreds of thousands of other same-sex couples living in America, provides a benefit to your constituents or anyone else.
[3] Referring to these opinion polls, the LGBTQ Nation and The Independent newspapers wrote that "Schriver's desire to criminalize [same-sex marriage] would be both controversial and extreme".
The Tribal Chairman, Dexter McNamara, signed the legislation on March 15, 2013,[33] and the first couple, Tim LaCroix and Gene Barfield, were married near Harbor Springs that same day.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Council voted in November 2014 to hold a non-binding referendum on legalizing same-sex marriage on the reservation.
[39] While there are no records of same-sex marriages as understood from a Western perspective being performed in Native American cultures, there is evidence for identities and behaviours that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum.
Many of these cultures recognized two-spirit individuals who were born male but wore women's clothing and performed everyday household work and artistic handiwork which were regarded as belonging to the feminine sphere.
[40] Potawatomi society has traditionally recognized two-spirit individuals, known as mnedokwé (pronounced [mnədoˈkʷɛ], plural: mnedokwék),[41] who "sought out female company" from an early age, possessed the "work skills" of both sexes, "talked like women", and were regarded as "esteemed persons with special spiritual powers".
[46] In May 2008, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the amendment added to the State Constitution in 2004 banned not only same-sex marriage and civil unions, but also public employee domestic partnership benefits such as health insurance.
[48] On September 15, 2011, the Michigan House of Representatives voted 64–44 to approve a bill that would have banned most public employers, though not colleges and universities, from offering health care benefits to the domestic partners of their employees.
He wrote: "It is hard to argue with a straight face that the primary purpose—indeed, perhaps the sole purpose—of the statute is other than to deny health benefits to the same-sex partners of public employees.
[53] While there are no statewide recognition, these local governments recognize domestic partnerships: Ann Arbor,[54] Detroit,[55] East Lansing,[56] and Kalamazoo,[57] as well as Ingham,[54] Washtenaw,[54] and Wayne counties.
