Michigan same-sex marriages ‘were legal’ but won’t be recognised, confirms Governor
After a period of deliberation, the Governor of the US state of Michigan has confirmed that the marriages between 300+ same-sex couples were “legal and valid”, but that the state would not recognise those couples as married.
Governor Rick Snyder told reporters on Wednesday that a stay placed on a ruling last week which effectively struck-down the state’s same-sex marriage ban, complicated the situation.
He said: “With respect to the marriages, we believe those are legal and valid marriages
“The stay being issued makes it more complicated.”
Goin on, he said: “Because of the stay, we won’t recognise the benefits of the marriage until there’s a removal of the stay.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to provide some clarity, at least from our perspective, relatively soon.”
Shortly after a judge ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, hundreds of couples married.
After that, an appeals court issued a stay, which meant that counties were temporarily banned from issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples. The stay was temporarily extended today.
