Federal Benefits
Go To Same-Sex
Couples Married
In Michigan
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer
I
t was good news/bad news for more
than 300 same-sex couples across
Michigan after the state amendment
banning marriages between gay and lesbi-
an partners was declared unconstitutional
by Federal Judge Bernard Friedman.
Friedman issued his decision March 21,
after a two-week trial pitting two Hazel
Park nurses against Michigan Attorney
General Bill Schuette. The case began as an
adoption dispute over the women's rights
to jointly adopt their three special needs
foster children, but Friedman expanded
the case to include the legality of same-sex
marriage in Michigan.
On Saturday, March 22, clerks in four
Michigan counties opened their offices to
long lines of couples eager for marriage
licenses. More than 300 ceremonies were
performed by clerks, judges and other
officials, both civil and religious, including
Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown and
Berkley District Judge James Wittenberg.
Before the day was over, a stay had been
put into effect by the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals prohibiting further same-sex mar-
riages until the appeal process was com-
pleted, which could take several months.
Gov. Rick Snyder declared that, while the
marriages performed were legal and valid,
they would not be recognized by the state.
The disappointment felt by the newly
married couples and same-sex marriage
supporters was somewhat assuaged a day
later by a Justice Department statement
from U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder
Jr.: "These families will be eligible for all
relevant federal benefits on the same terms
as other same-sex marriages"
Holder issued a similar statement in
January regarding same-sex marriages
in Utah, based on a U.S. Supreme Court
decision last summer that struck down
the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a
ruling requiring the federal government to
offer the same benefits to legally married
same-sex couples as it does to heterosexual
couples.
Elizabeth Sollish and Lisa Bargende
Sollish of Huntington Woods were among
those married after Friedman's ruling.
Happy about Holder's stance, they were
disappointed Michigan will not recognize
their marriage so Elizabeth could adopt
their two daughters, Remy and Harper.
"We can now file taxes together; she
said. "However, it's disappointing that on
the state level we are still not recognized
as a family. Our motivation for going
through the process was mainly so that the
girls could be adopted. It is encouraging,
though, that there seems to be an overall
cultural shift happening:'
❑
kireic~ 6c-
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April 3 • 2014
19