A lesbian couple is challenging
Michigan's gay marriage ban.
April DeBoer and her partner Jayne
Rowse of Hazel Park on Friday amended their lawsuit seeking to
jointly adopt their three foster children to instead challenge the
state's ban on gay nuptials.
The idea of amending the complaint was
the suggestion of U.S. District Court Judge Bernard A. Friedman.
“This is totally not what we expected
by any means,” Rowse told the Detroit Free Press. “We
wanted to keep the kids' rights at the forefront, the rights that any
other child has.”
The women are raising 3-year-old Nolan,
and 2-year-olds Ryanne and Jacob.
“The state gave them children who had
been abandoned and surrendered at birth to raise,” said
lawyer Dana Nessel. “And they are raising them with all the
love, nurturing, care and affection that any parent would give to any
child. But the state then rewards these woman by telling them while
they are good enough to foster as a couple, they aren't good enough
to adopt as a couple. We submit that this is pure and utter
insanity.”
Lawsuits filed in Nevada, California,
New Jersey and Illinois are also challenging similar state laws,
while lawsuits in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and California
aim to take down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits
federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and
lesbian couples.
In 2004, voters approved an amendment
to the Michigan Constitution defining marriage as a heterosexual
union.