A federal judge in Detroit will hear opening arguments today on a case that could potentially overturn Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage. In 2012, two lesbian nurses sued Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette. The couple is raising three special needs children, but they cannot legally adopt them unless they are married.
Michigan’s gay marriage ban has been in force for almost a decade, but the couple’s attorney Dana Nessel argues that Michigan’s constitutional amendment violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Rick Pluta is the Managing Editor of the Michigan Public Radio Network. He’s been following the case for some time and explains that it started out as an adoption rights case. However, once they took the case challenging Michigan adoption laws to Federal court, the judge informed them they had to challenge the same-sex marriage ban to get to the root of the issue.
