The legal status of same-sex marriage here in Michigan was taken for quite the ride over the weekend. Late Friday afternoon, Federal District Judge Bernard Friedman declared Michigan’s 2004 ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. By Saturday afternoon, the clerks in four Michigan counties – Washtenaw, Muskegon, Oakland and Ingham – issued hundreds of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request to put the ruling on hold was granted by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. That temporary hold lasts until Wednesday.
Emily Dievendorf, the managing director for Equality Michigan, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, says the group's supporters were excited and ready to move forward and move their families to greater stability.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum issued the state’s first marriage license to a same-sex couple in Michigan on Saturday morning. She says 57 marriage licenses were issued throughout the day.