LANSING – State Representative Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) applauded Gov. Snyder’s decision today to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who married on March 22, 2014, when a court ruling briefly allowed them to do so. Because the governor declined to appeal a federal district court ruling, the state will honor the Michigan marriage licenses of more than 300 same-sex couples. The ruling will go into effect tomorrow, Feb. 5, 2015. Judge Mark A. Goldsmith of the Eastern District of Michigan ruled that the state will have to recognize these existing marriages even if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban later this year.
“I am glad that the governor has decided not to waste any more taxpayer money on a misguided crusade to discriminate against these 300 families,” Irwin said. “Michigan should be supporting families, not trying to tear them apart. That is why the governor’s decision is only a first step. He should stop defending Michigan’s marriage ban at the Supreme Court, before he puts our state on the wrong the side of history.”