CINCINNATI, Ohio — The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday upheld same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The federal appeals court first heard the cases back in August. The Supreme Court may now be forced to rule.
April DeBoer and her partner Jayne Rowse sued the state of Michigan because they cannot jointly adopt their three children.
A federal judge initially sided with the couple andstruck down Michigan’s ban in March. It was allowed in the state for about 24 hours before a stay was ordered and the ban was put back in place.
The state argued that voters should decide whether Michigan’s 2004 same-sex marriage ban should be overturned.
“We are disappointed in the Court’s ruling,” Gina Calcagno, coalition manager of Michigan for Marriage, said in a release. “We expected, like many people, that the Court would uphold the value of individual freedoms rather than limit them by denying the fundamental right to marry.”
Gov. Rick Snyder also issued a statement following the ruling. It reads, in part:
As I have previously stated, the same-sex couples who married at county clerk offices in the period between U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman’s ruling in March and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ temporary stay of that ruling, were legally married.
However, the Court of Appeals decision does not allow for state benefits of marriage for those same-sex couples in accordance with our state constitution. That decision only can be changed if today’s Appeals Court ruling is overturned.
