Hundreds of gay couples and their
supporters raced Saturday to county clerk offices in Michigan to
exchange vows after a federal judge struck down the state's nearly
10-year ban on gay marriage.
The rush to the altar was taking place
in at least 4 out of Michigan's 83 county offices, including Oakland
County, one of the state's most populous.
Attorney General bill Schuette
announced shortly after Friday's ruling that he would ask the Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to suspend U.S. District Judge
Bernard Friedman's ruling as the state purses an appeal.
Despite the possibility that their
marriages might not be recognized by the state if Friedman's ruling
is stayed, large crowds showed up on Saturday.
Nasir Khawaja, who married Mark Sarver,
his partner of 16 years, in Oakland County, called
it a “momentous day.”
Dressed in tuxedos, the couple stood
out among the crowd.
The first couple to marry was in Ingham
County. Glenna DeJong, 53, and Marsha Caspar, 51, exchanged vows
shortly after 8 AM. The women have been together 27 years.
“I figured in my lifetime it would
happen,” Caspar told the AP. “But now, when it happens now, it's
just overwhelming. I still can't believe it. I don't think it's hit
me yet.”