A federal appeals court on Tuesday
extended a temporary hold on a federal judge's ruling that struck
down Michigan's ban on gay marriage.
Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples
rushed to marry on Saturday, a day after U.S. District Judge Bernard
Friedman struck down Michigan's 2004 voter-approved constitutional
amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
Roughly 300 couples married in 4
counties before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati
issued a temporary injunction.
In extending its stay, the appeals
court cited the Supreme Court's granting of a stay in a case
challenging Utah's restrictive marriage amendment.
“In light of the Supreme Court's
issuance of a stay in a similar case, Herbert v. Kitchen … a
stay of the district court's order is warranted,” the court ruled.
(Related: Michigan:
$40K for anti-equality experts whose testimony was deemed
“unbelievable.”)