Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced
Wednesday that the state won't recognize the marriages of roughly 300
gay and lesbian couples performed on Saturday.
“With respect to the marriages, we
believe those are legal and valid marriages,” Snyder is quoted as
saying by the AP. “The stay being issued makes it more
complicated.”
“Because of the stay, we won't
recognize the benefits of the marriages until there's a removal of
the stay. Hopefully, we'll be able to provide some clarity, at least
from our perspective, relatively soon.”
County clerks' offices at only 4 out of
Michigan's 83 counties opened Saturday to issue marriage licenses to
gay couples after a federal judge on Friday struck down Michigan's
2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment which limits marriage to
heterosexual couples.
(Related: Hundreds
marry in Michigan before appeals court stays gay marriage decision.)
Utah officials are also not recognizing
the more than 1,300 gay couples who exchanged vows during the 17-day
windows when such unions were legal in the state. The ACLU of Utah
has asked a federal judge to force Utah to recognize those marriages.
On Wednesday, the Michigan chapter of the ACLU said it was
considering similar action in Michigan.
“It's a real head scratcher that the
governor plans to deny rights that all other married couples are
entitled to under state law,” Jay Kaplan, a lawyer for the ACLU,
told the AP. “That shamefully treats same sex couples as
second-class citizens.”