GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A gay couple suing Gov. Rick Snyder is requesting a federal court to recognize their out-of-state marriage immediately as one man's fight with brain cancer worsens.

East Grand Rapids couple Bruce Morgan and Brian Merucci married in 2013 in New York, where same-sex marriage is legal. They filed a lawsuit against Snyder in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids last spring after their marriage was not recognized in Kent County.

U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist ordered a stay in the case, pending the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Michigan's same-sex marriage ban.

Morgan was diagnosed in 2011 with inoperable brain cancer that is now progressing, and the couple can't afford to wait for Supreme Court's ruling, documents state.

"The impact of Bruce's cancer on his life and marriage to Brian appears to be lost on the State; the reality is that the cancer is incurable and that Bruce will die. There is no time to wait to recognize their marriage, nor is time needed; the time is now," Stephanie Myott, the couple's attorney, said in court documents.

Myott, in a brief supporting a motion to lift the stay filed Thursday, April 2, said the court's rationale for staying the case is no longer relevant after Snyder earlier this year decided not to appeal a federal injunction requiring the state recognize marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples on March 22, 2014.

Snyder in February said the state would extend state marriage benefits to the 300 same-sex couples who married the one day it was legal.

Michigan's gay marriage ban was temporarily lifted that day, after a federal judge ruled the state's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. The lawsuit challenging the ban was brought by Hazel Park couple April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse.

The ban was quickly reinstated when Attorney General Bill Schuette filed an emergency appeal. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld the ban, and now the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments at the end of April on cases in Michigan and other states challenging gay marriage bans.

Myott argued the couple's marriage was recognized during the brief window when the state's ban on same-sex marriage was overturned, and the fact that the decision was stayed is irrelevant.

"Brian and Bruce's rights to have Michigan recognize their marriage sprung to life upon the overturning of the Marriage Ban," Myott said. "Bruce and Brian's marriage cannot now be unrecognized."

She said even if the Supreme Court upholds Michigan's gay marriage ban, the couple's union must still be recognized under the Full Faith and Credit Clause in the U.S. Constitution. The clause states that "full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, record and judicial proceedings of every other state."

"The moment that the Marriage Ban was overturned, Bruce and Brian's marriage rights were vested in them in Michigan pursuant to the FFC clause," Myott said.

The delay in the court's decision has caused Merucci and Morgan "undue prejudice and hardship," documents state.

The couple stressed the necessity of marital recognition for spousal benefits, such as filing joint income tax returns, making medical decisions for each other, visiting each other after regular visitation hours at the hospital, and owning property together.

"Each time Defendant advocates for a stay and the Court grants it, Bruce and Brian are reminded that they are second-class citizens in their home state and are seen as less than their opposite-sex counterparts," Myott said.

Kent County Clerk and Register of Deeds Mary Hollinrake was named in the suit for refusing to recognize the couple's New York marriage license. However, the couple signed an agreement with Hollinrake that relieved her of having to participate in litigation, but she is bound to follow the court's decision.

Angie Jackson covers public safety and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at ajackso3@mlive.com, and follow her on Twitter.