Same-Sex Law on Trial

Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage goes on trial this week. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman will begin taking testimony tomorrow before deciding whether Michigan’s gay-marriage ban is constitutional. The case involves two Detroit-area nurses in a lesbian relationship that argue in their lawsuit that the state’s constitutional amendment violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse also have challenged the legality of the state’s Adoption Code prohibiting same-sex couples from jointly adopting children. At Judge Friedman’s suggestion, they expanded the case to challenge the state’s gay marriage ban.