LANSING -- Michigan's arguments for not recognizing the marriages of about 300 couples who wed right after the state's same-sex marriage ban was struck down don't "hold water," the couples said in a court filing Monday.

"Defendants’ response boils down to three points. First, the Sixth Circuit made them do it. Second, plaintiffs don’t have it that bad. Third, plaintiffs brought this on themselves by getting married in the first place. None of these responses holds water," attorneys for a group of eight couples suing the state wrote.

The couples, represented by the ACLU of Michigan, sued the state after Gov. Rick Snyder said Michigan would not recognize the marriages conducted in the 18-hour period between a federal judge's decision to strike down the state's ban as unconstitutional and a stay issued by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals putting that ruling on hold.

Several county clerks opened their offices during that window to start issuing marriage licenses, but Snyder said the state would not recognize those marriages as valid once the ban went back into effect. One of the plaintiff couples in the case, Marsha Caspar and Glenna DeJong, of Lansing, were the first couple to be married when Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum opened her office.

The couples argue that because their marriages were legal when they were performed, the state is obligated to recognize them. They cite similar rulings from other states where same-sex marriage bans were temporarily lifted.

Lawyers for the state have argued that the couples took the risk of having their marriages not recognized when they chose to marry during the brief period when licenses were available, and that the Sixth Circuit's stay required the state to not recognize the marriages.

The text of the Sixth Circuit's stay, however, makes no reference to whether or not the state is permitted to recognize the marriages.

No hearing date has been set for the couples' motion for an injunction forcing the state to recognize their marriages.

Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him at bsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.