Michigan: State's Lawyers Move To Invalidate Over 300 Same-Sex Marriages

Attorneys for the state of Michigan argued on Friday that a federal appeals court ruling last week that upheld the state’s ban on same-sex marriage invalidates the unions of 300 same-sex couples who were married earlier this year.

The couples received marriage licenses in March when U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman first struck down the ban, and before the ruling was stayed.

On November 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban, and similar bans in three other states. The plaintiffs in those cases are filing appeals with the US Supreme Court.

From the state's six page brief:

“Consequently, from a legal standpoint, because the marriages rested solely on the district court’s erroneous decision, which has now been reversed, it is as if the marriages never existed, and Plaintiffs’ requests for benefits attendant to a legal marriage must be denied."

The federal government has announced the marriages will be recognized for the purposes of social security, immigration status and other benefits.