Local same-sex couples overjoyed by Supreme Court decision.
Ronelle Grier I Contributing Writer
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Joe Kort and Michael Cramer of Grosse
Pointe Woods have been fighting this battle
since 1999, when the announcement they
submitted to the Jewish News for their
upcoming commitment ceremony was sent
back because it went against the paper's pol-
icy for wedding and engagement announce-
ments. The request sparked much discus-
sion and the policy was changed in 2004, but
the initial rejection hurt, Kort said.
In 2000, Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg of
Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy performed
a religious ceremony for the couple and, in
2004, they were married in Massachusetts,
where same-sex marriage was legal.
Like many couples who traveled to other
states to get married, the two are elated their
marriage will now be recognized in their
home state and throughout the country
"We are very emotional and in shock, even
though we knew in a way the Supreme Court
would validate our marriage:' Kort said.
Historical Background
The U.S. Supreme Court decision was based
on four separate cases from Michigan, Ohio,
Kentucky and Tennessee — all states where
laws against same-sex marriage were upheld
by an appeals court.
The Michigan case began as a lawsuit filed
in 2012 by two Hazel Park nurses. The suit
challenged the Michigan Adoption Code,
which prohibits joint adoption by unmarried
couples, regardless of gender. The plaintiffs
have three adopted children, all with special
needs.
Two of the young children, Nolan and
Jacob, were adopted by Rowse, while Ryanne
was adopted by DeBoer. Because Michigan
law did not allow the couple to marry, the
women were concerned about what might
happen if one of them should die or become
incapacitated because a non-legal parent has
no official standing or parental rights.
Federal District Judge Bernard Friedman,
who was hearing the
case, expanded its scope
to include challeng-
ing the 2004 Michigan
law forbidding mar-
riage between same-sex
couples. During a two-
week trial in March 2014,
plaintiff attorneys Dana
Judge Bernard
Nessel, Carole Stanyar
Friedman
and Kenneth Mogill
presented expert witnesses from a variety
of fields who offered evidence to support
that children raised in same-sex households
fared just as well as those raised by hetero-
sexual parents.
Assistant Attorney General Kristin Heyse
represented the state of Michigan, arguing
the court does not have the right to over-
ride the voters who approved the Michigan
Marriage Amendment (MMA) in 2004.
On March 21, 2014, Friedman over-
turned the 10-year-old ban on same-sex
marriage on the grounds it violated the
U.S. Constitution. The following day, about
300 gay and lesbian couples were married
by clergy, county clerks and other officials
until a stay was issued by the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals at the request of Attorney
General Bill Schuette. The appeals court ulti-
mately overturned Friedman's decision, and
the case was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court
for consideration.
Local Rabbis Respond To Supreme Court Decision
Barbara Lewis
Contributing Writer
n 1994, the Detroit Jewish News
published a long article about the
struggle local Reform rabbis were
having with the idea of same-sex
unions. Few were calling the ceremo-
nies weddings because same-sex mar-
riage was not legal anywhere in the
United States. Instead, gay and lesbian
couples held "commitment ceremonies."
Only a few local rabbis were willing
to participate in such ceremonies.
Now, the majority of Detroit's
Conservative rabbis who have spo-
ken to the JN - and about all of
the local Reform, Reconstructionist
and Humanistic rabbis - will do so.
They are happy that on June 26 the
Supreme Court sanctioned same-
8
sex unions everywhere in the United
States. The Conservative rabbis who
will officiate at same-sex marriages will
do so only if both partners are Jewish
- the same requirement they have
for heterosexual couples.
In a letter to his
congregants at
Congregation Beth
Shalom, Rabbi Robert
Gamer said he looks
forward to standing
under the chuppah
with same-sex Jewish
couples just as he
Robert Gamer
does with heterosexual
Jewish couples.
Gamer noted that at a brit milah for
a baby boy or a naming ceremony for
a girl, the parents wish for a future
that includes Torah, chuppah, v'maasim
tovim - Torah, mar-
riage and good deeds.
Now parents of all
children, both gay and
straight, will be able to
see that wish fulfilled,
he said.
Rabbi Elliot Pachter
Elliot Pachter
is one Conservative
rabbi who feels same-
sex unions contravene Jewish law.
"I have not performed a same sex
wedding, and I have no plans to do
so in the future," said Pachter of
Congregation B'nai Moshe in West
Bloomfield.
"There are other situations in which
I don't officiate at a wedding, yet I
personally express my congratulations
and accept that the couple is mar-
ried, even if the marriage is in conflict
with Jewish law. Such cases include
an interfaith couple and a couple in
which at least one partner is previously
married and divorced, without a get
(Jewish divorce)."
Compelling Dignity
Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield was
a pioneer when he
performed a wedding
for a lesbian couple
in 1993. He'd been
planning to turn down
their request until he
met with them.
Paul Yedwab
"What I found sit-
ting across the desk
was a couple so committed to one
another, so in love and so Jewish that
I told them I would do some studying