US: Michigan politicians urge legal recognition of 300+ gay newlyweds

Mar 27 2014
Written by Joseph McCormick

Six Democrats in the US state of Michigan have urged US Attorney general Eric Holder to recognise the marriages of 300+ gay couples from Saturday.

The reinstatement and extension of a temporary suspension of a ruling to strike-down Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban have left more than three hundred couples, who all married on Saturday, not knowing where they stand legally.

Yesterday the state’s Governor Rick Snyder, said the marriages were “legal and valid”, but that the state would not recognise them.

A letter is signed by Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, and Representatives John Dingell, Sander Levin, Gary Peters and Dan Kildee.

It urges US Attorney General Eric Holder to legally recognise the couples as married.

Earlier this year, Holder honoured the marriages of same-sex couples married in the state of Utah under similar circumstances, and earlier this week he said he was monitoring the situation in Michigan.

Also today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the state of Michigan, slammed Governor Snyder for his position, and the organisation is talking to couples who married on Saturday to explore the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the state.