Gay marriage begins across Michigan

Jayne Rowse, left, speaks as April DeBoer, kisses her during a news conference in Ferndale, Mich., on March 21, 2014.

(AP Photo | Paul Sancya)

Ann Arbor is poised to join the fight for marriage equality on the national level.

The City Council on Monday night will vote on a resolution authorizing the city to be listed as a supporting municipality in an amicus brief being filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The resolution and brief both reaffirm the city's previously stated position in support of gay marriage, once again taking sides in a lesbian couple's lawsuit against the state of Michigan that is now on appeal to the nation's high court.

April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, two nurses from Hazel Park, are suing the state because they can't jointly adopt their four children without a legal marriage.

The case involves the constitutionality of Michigan's voter-approved ban on gay marriage, which Gov. Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette are defending.

The state's ban was declared unconstitutional last March by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman, who held that the ban impermissibly discriminates against same-sex couples in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and does not advance any legitimate state interest.

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned Friedman's ruling in November, and also upheld bans on same-sex marriage in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this month to decide on whether all 50 states must allow same-sex couples to marry. A decision is expected by the end of June.

A group called Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, also known as GLAD, is filing the amicus brief with the support of other municipalities, community organizations and businesses, and Ann Arbor will be listed as one of the supporters.

The resolution on Monday night's agenda is being sponsored by Mayor Christopher Taylor and Council Members Sabra Briere, Julie Grand, Chuck Warpehoski and Kirk Westphal. The council unanimously approved a similar resolution last May when the DeBoer case was going to the Court of Appeals.

The latest resolution notes the U.S. Supreme Court has limited its review of the Court of Appeals ruling to two questions: Does the 14th Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? And does the 14th Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out of state?

"The city of Ann Arbor has been a leader in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage," reads the council resolution to be voted on Monday night. "The City Council of the city of Ann Arbor is in support of the findings and holding of the lower court that (Michigan's ban on gay marriage) is unconstitutional."

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.