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As Wait Continues, Gender-Neutral Marriage License Applications are Ready

Palosirkka
Wikimedia Commons

The waiting continues for same-sex couples who'd like to marry in Michigan.

A judge is expected to rule soon on whether the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage should be overturned. 

Mary Larkin is Director of Eastern Michigan University's LGBT Resource Center.  She says the tension has been growing since last week.

"I think people are starting to get a little keyed up right now," Larkin said.  "It feels like we're waiting for lottery numbers."

Larkin said no matter which way the ruling falls, this is only the beginning of a long road toward legalizing same-sex marriage in Michigan.

Washtenaw County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum said he expects that if the judge rules in favor of a Hazel park couple who are challenging the law, his decision will be stayed.

Kestenbaum said his office has been prepared to accommodate same-sex couples since November, when it appeared there might be a decision on the issue.

"We took numbers for that," Kestenbaum said, "and I think about 60 people who were ready to get married at that point if the decision had come through," Kestenbaum said.

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Larry Kestenbaum says the Washtenaw County commissioners have given him the authority to reduce the fee for skipping the normal three-day waiting period.

April DeBoer and Jayne Rouse are seeking to have Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage overturned so that they can marry and adopt each others' children.