Michigan judge rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

Today, a federal judge in Michigan ruled unconstitutional the state’s laws prohibiting marriages for gay and lesbian couples, saying that they violate the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Judge Bernard Friedman’s decision comes two weeks after the 9-day trial in DeBoer v. Snyder came to a close.

The trial was the second time a federal court heard expert testimony on the issue of marriage for gay and lesbian couples. In January 2010, AFER’s attorneys led by Ted Olson and David Boies presented 17 witnesses in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (later Hollingsworth v. Perry).

Similar to recent rulings, Judge Friedman found that state laws violate the United States Constitution:

“Today’s decision…affirms the enduring principle that regardless of whoever finds favor in the eyes of the most recent majority, the guarantee of equal protection must prevail.”

Included in the ruling is Friedman's opinion that findings from Mark Regnerus's often rebuked study about same-sex families were "entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration."

This is the sixth time a federal court has ruled such discriminatory laws unconstitutional, and the fifth state to do so in the last three months.

The lawsuit was filed by two nurses, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, and on behalf of their three children.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency request for stay of Friedman’s ruling.

The decision is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio by the state defendants.

You can read the decision below:

2:12-cv-10285 #151 Michigan Decision